Going another Way
by Tribun
Summary: A slightly different choice of Gendo after Yui vanishes shapes Shinji different. And like a stone thrown into water, the ripples grew wider with time. Now things won't be as they could have been. Shinji x Rei. -COMPLETE!
1. Prologue

I will say these things in advance: I have absolutely no rights at NGE, but you should have already known that.

The story itself is basically a re-telling of the original storyline, but twisted into my way. While at the beginning there seem to be only few divigances, it will become more with each episode. The people, their motivations and the backgrounds are while holding true to the basic layout, changed at my imagination in many details, so canon-purists now are allowed to flame me.

NOTE: I hate both, the ending of the TV series, and how End of Evangelion turned out. So don't expect any of those outcomes.

This will be Shinji/Rei.

For all the work I put into this, I would like to get reviews. I will always try to respond to every review I get.

But enough...let's start.

_**Going another Way**_

**Prologue**

_...GEHIRN, 2004 AD..._

"Ohhh...big mecha!"

That was all that three-years young Shinji Ikari could say, seeing the prototype EVA his mother had been working on since his birth trough the big viewing window. He was too young to really understand what they were planning to test today, he only knew his mother was doing it.

"Yes, Shinji, a big mecha. Your father, I and many others worked hard to make it," his mother, Yui Ikari, told her son, while walking into the control room in the experimental plugsuit. She couldn't help but feel naked in it, as much as it was hugging her skin.

Shinji laughed, when seeing her. "Squeaky rubber!"

Yui had to admit, the suit _was_ squeaking. They still had to refine it to remove all the quirks in it, but they were coming along. Her collegues Naoko Akagi and Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu were reporting progress on their fronts as well. Naoko had made good progress with their computer systems and even admitted that her daughter Ritsuko was slowly becoming a good help for her. Soryu was, while busy with rising her daughter, also making good progress with her own project, an advanced version of EVA, but that would still need refinement.

"Be nice to your mother, son. She is going to do something big today," Gendo Ikari said to his son. He hoped that Yui was right, and that she would be safe. If something would happen to her... no, he wouldn't survive it. It would be like pushing a stake through his heart. She HAD to make it!

Yui knelt beside her son. "Will you be a good boy, Shinji, and wish me luck?"

"Good luck, mom!" Shinji honestly said.

With a smile, she left the control room, walking up the catwalk to the entry plug. She hoped that she was right. At first, everything had made it clear that only children born after Second Impact could use an EVA. Yui hadn't wanted to believe that. She and Gendo had no desire to send children into such danger. She didn't want to force Shinji into a life, where he would be more a soldier than a child, losing his innocence in the process. So she had brooded over the problem, and popably had found the solution. Since she had been pregnant with Shinji, a potential pilot, she now should be able to pilot the EVA as well, since Shinji must have shared with her what made him able to pilot, while he had been still within her.

God, she hoped she was right. Otherwise her son would lose his mother, and Gendo... No, she didn't even want to think about how devastated he would be. He had been always a little emotionally fragile, losing her would destroy him on the inside.

She HAD to be right!

Getting into the plug, she heared it shut, then it filled with LCL. She had to surpress a gagging reflex. The first few times she had been in there to get used to the stuff, she had thrown up at least four times. And even now, it almost made her sick. Despite the many advancements they had managed to make real, they had been unable to give the LCL a different, good taste. It still tasted like blood, which it essentially was. No, she wouldn't think of that beast Lilith right now.

In the control room, everything up to now went according to plan. Every indicator was green and her life signs were stable and calm. "Ready to start, Yui?" Gendo asked her, the inside of the plug shown on the big screen.

"Yes, start the procedure...now we will see if I was right."

"All right...start sychronisation process," one technical said. "Careful... Doctor, you will reach the borderline in 0.5...0.4...0.3...0.2...0.1... Borderline reached!"

"Stable so far! We get a reading of around 19 percent so far!"

Yui was just relaxing, thinking that that her experiment had been a success, when suddenly her whole body cramped, and pain shot down her spine. She let out a scream of pure pain. "AAAAAAAARRRRRGHHH!"

"YUI!"

"MOM!"

"Alert! Alert! The sychronisation is getting out of control!" Alarm klaxons blared while the technicans tried hectical to do something. "ABORT!" Gendo screamed.

"We can't! System blocked!" "Oh God! 150...170...250!"

Yui screamed in argony while her body felt aflame. _Shinji! Gendo! Oh God, what have I done!_

Then suddenly to the horror of everyone, as soon as the instruments reached 400, she simply dissolved, fading away, until only her empty plugsuit was swimming in the LCL. Everyone was silent, while all instruments turned back to 0. Shinji looked with tear-filled eyes at the empty plugsuit. He had no way to understand what had happened, only that something had taken away his mother.

"Mom..."

Beside him, Gendo had collapsed in shock.

* * *

_...deep within the EVA..._

Yui left like she was shot naked with high speed through a water pipe, which essentially was like her dark surroundings felt like. Further and further, until everything stopped. She was desoriented. Where was she? It was dark. She felt like she was floating in warm water, surrounded by flesh walls. It was...yes it was like she was back in her mother's womb, not born yet.

She tried to gather her thoughts. _My God, what happened? I heard 400...then nothing. Am I dead? No...it felt almost like I was taken apart. _She swallowed quite some water, when she realised what had happened. _It absorbed me. We had speculated that the core could do this... and now I'm in the EVA!_

Yui felt so weak, the passing into the EVA had really exhausted her spirit. She had no strength at all to reach out to whatever she was surrounded of, thus the womb to protect her, as she was as weak as a baby. She would have no choice but to wait until she was "born".

_Gendo...he will be heartbroken... And Shinji...my little Shinji. Please forgive me that will grow up without me. It was my own foolishness that took me away from you. I beg you to forgive me my son...I failed you. I wish there were another way for me to say it. I can only hope...someday...someplace... where your hand waits for mine._

Curling into a ball, she slowly drifted away into deep sleep.

_**to be continued...**_


	2. Sachiel

I will say these things in advance: I have absolutely no rights at NGE, but you should have already known that.

The story itself is basically a re-telling of the original storyline, but twisted into my way. While at the beginning there seem to be only few divigances, it will become more with each episode. The people, their motivations and the backgrounds are while holding true to the basic layout, changed at my imagination in many details, so canon-purists now are allowed to flame me.

NOTE: I hate both, the ending of the TV series, and how End of Evangelion turned out. So don't expect any of those outcomes.

This will be Shinji/Rei.

For all the work I put into this, I would like to get reviews. I will always try to respond to every review I get.

* * *

**Chapter 1: Sachiel**

_...eleven years later, 2015 AD..._

"All normal lines are out of order due to the state of special emergency."

_That's useless... _Hanging up the payphone at the train station, Shinji felt like kicking it, but then knew better than resorting to vandalism. "What use is a payphone network, if they shut it off? Isn't it there for emergencies?" he asked himself. With a sigh, he then picked up his duffel bag. Looking around the small village where his train had stopped before even reaching Tokyo-3, he wondered why no one was there. It looked...well, dead.

"Strange."

But then again, that he even was here was strange, since he actually had no reason to come. He remembered his father, may he get kidney stones, had simply pushed him away after his mother's death to his uncle. Telling him that he had no desire to see him again. A move so cold that it had seriously hurt the little boy's emotions. Thankfully, his uncle Kaldor, his mother's brother, was a warm-hearted man. His wife had died two years prior and he had remained childless. Nonetheless he had tried his best to raise Shinji as good and normal as possible.

Still, Shinji had remained emotionally withdrawn after his father had left him. Until his ninth birthday. When Kaldor had asked him why he was so depressed, he had admitted under tears that he had met his father at his mother's empty grave, and that it had been horrible, how he had been totally ignored by him. His uncle had taken him aside, and told him on that day what he remembered up to this day. He had told him that Yui had been a great person. And that he should always hold her memory in honor, he should be proud of her. For his father, he had found less nice words. In his words, Gendo had lost every right to be his father, and that he should acknowledge him as what he was: an asshole. Shinji shouldn't let him get to him anymore and step out of his shadow.

True, it had taken some time, but his uncle's support helped him, to finally get out of his shell. Slow at first, but at the end of the year, the people around him freely admitted, that he had changed much to the better. And durning the next four years, he had become what many would consider a totally normal teenager boy. He had friends, was shyly looking at the girls when they weren't noticing, played games and went to school. Nothing out of the ordinary.

He still regulary visited his mother's grave. He knew it was an empty grave, and that she propably wasn't hearing him, nonetheless. It wasn't in grieving, but because he felt that he owed it to her to tell her what he had accomplished. She would be proud to see what a fine teenager he had become. He had met his father once at the grave during that time, but this time, he had ignored him completely, while telling his mom, what he had accomplished since the last time. His old man had been silent, but when he left, he could see that giving him the cold should had disturbed him, as if this was unplanned.

Yes, life had been normal...until three days ago.

His uncle had shown him a letter, adressed to him, from his father. In it had been several things. A letter, and a ID-card. Curious enough, the ID-card was issued on him, with a recent photo, for some organisation called _"NERV"_. The letter was disturbing. It was impersonal. The first half was only: "Come to Tokyo-3 in three days. I have a use for you." Signed with Gendo. The other half had a exact description when to meet a Captain Katsuragi, who would manage everything. Looking at the added picture, this Katsuragi woman either had to be a model with the wrong job, or without inhibitions.

His uncle had asked him, why to even go. So he had told him, that he could care less for his father, but he wouldn't miss the chance to finally tell him into the face, that he hadn't a need for HIM. So he had packed for some days, told his friends he would be away for a while, and here he was now, in a seeming ghost town.

"I wonder where she is..." Looking again at the photo, he guessed that she was in her very late 20's. She was good looking, no doubt, but even with his teenage hormones, he wasn't stupid. She was almost double his age, and drooling over her was therefore kind of pointless.

_Where the hell is everybody...? Maybe I should go into a shelter._

Shinji looked around...and stopped when he saw someone on the other side of the street. It was a girl in a school uniform, but she was like a ghost, partially transculent and surrounded by a aura of light. Her blue hair in a pageboy cut yet still almost a mop, her red eyes seeming to look directly into his soul. He blinked, now she was gone.

_What was that? Who was that?... She was so beautiful..._

His thoughts were cut short, when suddenly he heared jet engines and helicopters. Looking up, he saw them flying over him. But at the same time, he heared something very different. A loud rumbling, then a inhuman and loud scream! And then he saw it, when it came into his field of view.

It was a _monster_! A huge, black giant with a red orb in its mid-section, a skull-face, armed with claws, walking towards Tokyo-3. And the army was attacking it, while the monster slashed back, firing off some kind of energy from its hands at the same time.

"Shit! What the hell is going on here!?" Shinji felt somehow reminded of that western myth of the Grim Reaper when seeing that huge...thing. The battle was coming closer, and he had no desire to die. However, his terror was cut short when a blue sports car stopped with protesting tires beside him.

"Shinji Ikari?!" the woman at the stirring wheel asked, out of breath.

"That's me." He recognised Captain Katsuragi from the picture, only now she was wearing some kind of uniform.

"Hop in, we have to go fast!" she shouted, while looking at the battle that was coming closer. She barely waited for Shinji to close the door before speeding away to escape the battle. "Sorry that I'm late! I had some...problems getting through. Why today of all day had this to happen?" She looked him up and down, while driving at the same time.

"What the hell is that thing? My train was stopped 13 kilometers before the city, the village was dead, and then suddenly something looking like the Grim Reaper grown to skycraper proportions attacked. Captain, what is going on here?" Shinji finally asked her, confused.

"Please don't laugh, but we call that thing an Angel. It is actually the reason, why..." she stopped when she saw all forces suddenly retreat from the Angel. "Strange..." Stopping the car, she looked to the battlefield through a pair of binoculars, then dropped them suddenly. "OH NO!" She suddenly held down Shinji. "DOWN! THEY DROP A N-2 MINE!"

**-BRRRRAAAAAAMMMM-**

No sooner had she said this, when Shinji nearly went deaf when something exploded so loud, that it almost made his eardrums burst. The sheer force of the pressure wave threw the car on the side with a loud crash.

"Mmph.." Shinji felt uncomfortable the way the Captain's breasts were pressing into his face. Thankfully she moved and freed him from them. "What was that? N-2?" he asked her, trying to hide his embarrassed blush.

"Urgh... Think of it as a clean nuclear bomb, all right? Ugh, my head is still ringing..." Crawling out of the car, she sighed. "Oh, damn! Still 33 loan payments to go, and already I have to totally renew the casing!" she wailed, when seeing the state in which her car was.

Shinji wondered how she could think of something like this right now. Looking to the battlefield, he still saw the giant, unmoving and partly melted, but otherwise unharmed. "Oh-uh! That thing doesn't seem to be that impressed by it, as it looks like."

"That can wait. Help me to get the car back on the road..." Together they managed to push it back into the right position, but when she tried to start the electric engine, nothing happened. Looking under the hood, she sighed. "Oh, perfect. The battery is busted."

"Uhm, Captain..." but he was was interrupted by her.

"Please, call me Misato. Captain, that makes me feel so old. And you are not a soldier. So what did you want to say?"

"Ca...Misato... I know this could be illegal, but maybe we can...uhm..borrow a battery from the car shop there?" Shinji said, pointing to the other side of the street.

* * *

_...meanwhile inside NERV..._

"This is totally impossible! Our best and most powerful weapon, and the Angel still is only injured and already regenerating!" one of the generals said, agitated, while looking on the screen.

"I hate to say it, but against this kind of threat I fear we simply can't do anything," another, much more calmer, general admitted.

"So we get green light to go on with our operation?"

All of the military looked to the man sitting in a command chair. He was in his late thirties, had orange-tinted glasses, a beard and clothed entirely in black and dark grey. His mimic was unmoving and ice-cold. That man was Gendo Ikari, the commander of NERV. The high military men looked at him, then on the screen.

"Do what you want, Ikari. Just get rid of that Angel out there. Prove that your toy can do the job, then consider your agency getting the job for the rest of them," the first general told him heated. Then they collectively left the command centre.

"Ikari, we might have the unit ready, but we lack a pilot. Rei is in no condition to pilot, even if we force her to do it, if Unit-01 would accept her at all,and we have no spares," a grey haired man standing beside Ikari reminded him.

"Don't worry, professor," he reassured him, his voice still holding next to no emotion, "A pilot is already on the way, he should arrive at any moment, so proceed with the preperations for Unit-01 as planned."

* * *

_...back in the car..._

"Sure. Don't worry. He is under my protection at top priority. Prepare a car train for us. A linear one, please. Yes. I'll bear the full responsibility for him because it was my idea to meet him in the first place. Bye," Misato said into her car phone, before hanging up. They had managed to get the car back running, but Shinji seemed a little uneasy.

"When I meant borrow, I thought of one, not a year's supply..." he said unhappy, looking at the car batteries on the back seat.

"Ah, It's OK. No problem. It is during an emergency... We can't do anything if the car doesn't run. In the addition, I am an international officer even if I don't seem like it." It was a lame excuse, and she knew it, but she simply had been unable to pass such a good chance to get some spare batteries.

Shinji had no problem seeing through it. "Ok, but still a lame excuse."

Misato decided that she would let this slide. She remembered that once she had been 14 years old too, and had been a real smart-mouth... well, at least before it had happened.

Finally they arrived at the car train. In a matter of seconds, the car was loaded, and the train started to drive through a tunnel.

Shinji found that now they had time to talk. "This agency, NERV, is that what my old man is working for?"

"Yes, the secret organization is directly attached to the United Nations. The Commander has a very important project under his wing, of which I will tell you about later. You saw that Angel out there? Well, we have the only thing that can hurt it, and there are more than just one of them... But you sound like you don't care for your father," Misato observed, noticing the coldness in Shinji's voice when speaking of his father.

"I would have prefered him leaving me alone. He threw me away like a piece of garbage after my mother's death, I was three years old then. My uncle had been a millon times more a father to me, than he had been." Fishing out a heart-shaped locket from under his shirt, he opened it. A photograph of a beautiful woman in her mid-20's was in it. "This is my mother. My uncle gave me the picture, said having it close to my heart will never let me forget her."

Misato looked at the picture. "She surely looks like she was a nice person. Oh, by the way, did you like my picture? I tried to give you a good shot of me," she suddenly asked.

"It is a good picture, but I'm not in your league, sorry," he told her, putting away the locket after closing it.

"Hmph..." It looked like she wasn't prepared for that kind of reaction. So she decided to change the topic. "You have your ID-card?"

"Yep." He showed it to her. "I better don't ask from where you guys got the photo..."

"Oh, we have our ways..." she said mysteriously, before giving him a small booklet. "Better read this, you will need it."

Shinji looked at it. "Welcome to NERV? Looks more like a advertisement flyer. Well, reading it can't hurt, but I really don't plan to stay here for more than a few days. Only wanted to tell my old man that he can shove... Oh, WOW!" Shinji stopped his rant when the tunnel ended, the tracks now going on a viaduct through a huge cavern, so big that he had trouble seeing the limits. "A geofront! I read about this in a geographics magazine, hadn't thought that one was already finished!"

"Surprise...look, down there." Following her finger, Shinji saw a pyramid far below in the geofront. "That is NERV headquarters. We will go there."

* * *

_...a little later..._

"I told you, we are lost!" Shinji complained, when they passed a certain corridor the third time. The self-moving walkways were only little help for them. He felt they were going in circles.

Misato obviously disliked being reminded of that. She had difficulties getting used to the huge NERV headquarters, and still hadn't memorized all the ways, and the map wasn't very helpful, too. She decided that she wouldn't let this get to her. "Well, looks like I have to resort to unusual methods..."

**"Chief of Project E at Section 1 of Technical Department, Dr. Akagi Ritsuko, Dr. Akagi Ritsuko. Please contact with Captain Katsuragi Misato at Section 1 of Operation Department immediately,"** came over the intercom system.

Having just put away her scuba gear and peeling off her wetsuit, Ritsuko Akagi felt like groaning. In the last months, she had to help Misato at least a dozend times after she had gotten lost in the headquarters. Knowing that time was of essence, she felt that she could change later. Getting into her shoes and putting the labcoat over her swimsuit, she was on the way.

"How can a grown up woman get lost so often? It is not that the layout is so complicated..." she wondered aloud.

At least Misato had managed to find an elevator, but Shinji felt that she truely had no idea where they were right now. _And she is a officer here? I surely hope that she is the exception to the rule... _The elevator doors opened that moment, revealing a not very pleased looking Ritsuko Akagi.

Misato looked embarrassed. "Uh, eh...Ritsuko."

Ritsuko rolled her eyes in annoyance, before selecting the right level. "You have to tell me how you do it, Misato! We are short of hands and time! Don't tell me you got lost again..."

"Well...uhm.."

"She did. I even caught her holding the map upside-down," Shinji said, causing Misato to look hard at him. Shinji then noticed something. "Uhm..eh.. Please don't tell me that this is the standard uniform here."

Realizing what he meant, Ritsuko closed her lab coat. "No, thank all Gods. You just caught me in a unfitting moment." She looked to Misato. "So, he is the boy we looked for?"

"Yes, 'the Third Child' according to Malduck's report," Misato replied, glad that the topic had shifted to a more familiar terrian.

_Third child? What kind of title is that? And then aren't there two others as well? _Shinji wondered, but then he remembered his manners. "I'm Shinji Ikari, pleased to meet you," he told Ritsuko.

"Dr. Ritsuko Akagi. Hmm..you look a little like your father..."

"But don't think I act like him! I will be relieved when I'm out of here, and away from him!" Shinji defended himself.

"You are clearly not like him. He would have never shown so much emotion," Ritsuko observed, intrigued by the boy. Considering all the files over what had happened 11 years ago, she had expected him to be a case for the psychatrist. But he seemed to be a totally normal boy.

Shinji silently followed the bickering between the two woman, while walking through the corridors. It was a real emergency as it sounded, and they talked about a Unit-01 with a minimal chance of activating it at all. There were a lot of technical terms he didn't understand, mixed in with some barbs. He tried to ignore them while reading the rest of the manual, before putting it away. Finally they reached a pitch-black room.

"Did someone switch off the light?" Shinji asked rethorical.

The light turned on, and Shinji had to try had not to jump in shock. There, before him was... he had no idea what it was. It looked like one of these mechas in animes, only very mean. And despite him having no concrete memory, his subconsciousness remembered the purple monster that had taken away his mom, shooting fear through his veins.

"This is the Multi-purpose Humanoid Fighting Machine EVANGELION, which the humanity finally developed," Dr. Akagi explained, but Shinji was still staring at it.

He still had no idea why, but he was clutching the locket in his hand, afraid of that EVA. "That's what my old man is working on? A big mecha?"

"Exactly."

Shnji turned around, spying his father above them behind bulletproof glass, and his eyes turned hard.

* * *

_...inside the EVA..._

"...big mecha..."

Yui, still curled up into a ball in her protective womb, had no idea how much time had passed. She only knew that she had the best sleep of her life, and she felt like newly born. The words replayed, again and again, rousing her out of her sleep.

_Who is that...?_

Trashing around, she only wanted to finally get out. Suddenly the water bubble she was in, bursted, and a strong contraction forced her head forward into something that felt like a birth channel. "Ugh.." she moaned, while following contractions pushed her entirely into the fleshy tube. She felt like she was rythmically pressed together, while the contractions slowly pushed her forward, trough the wet, slimy and narrow tunnel.

_Nggg..If it feels like that being born, I'm glad I don't remember the first time!_

Suddenly there was a bright light at the end, and a strong contraction made her slip through the remaining distance, into the light.

* * *

_...in the real world..._

Misato felt a headarche coming up. There was really no love left between Shinji and his father. It was made worse by him and Ritsuko expecting Shinji to pilot Unit-01 without any training at all, and the shaking earth reminded them that the Angel was back in fighting condition and on its way to them.

"So, let me get this straight," Shinji finally said. "You have called me to pilot that huge thing, EVA, which has a very, very remote chance of working at all, without any kind of training, against that monster, which you call an Angel, out there, becoming your obident soldier in the end?... And why should I do so?"

Gendo remained cold. "Three reasons. First, if you don't, humanity as we know it will cease to exist. Second, only you can do the job. Third, otherwise someone else will do it."

"So let the other one do the job," Shinji said defaintly.

Gendo's eyes narrowed slightly. He had to admit, sending Shinji to Kaldor had been a mistake. Kaldor and Yui had been always close, so he should have known that Shinji would become stong-willed and defaint. For his plans, a weak-willed Shinji would have been better, but now he had to adapt. Forcing him to cooperate was only a matter of the right means. "Very well." He turned on his communicator. "Fuyutsuki, bring in Rei...She is alive, so she can do it... The spare proved useless."

Shinji felt sick, when he saw a gurney wheeled in. The girl on it was in a really bad condition, and to his surprise, he recognised her as the same girl he had seen in this strange incident at the train station. _Who is she? My old man called her Rei... _Looking closer at her, he felt sick, again. She was obviously in much pain, and had a number of injuries. At least the ones he was able to see, most were probably covered by her sleeveless rubber suit.

Shinji felt getting angry. _How dare he! This girl is in no condition to do anything! She belongs into a bed!_

**-BBRRAAAOOOMM- -Dangclangdang-**

"Watch out!"

In horror Shiji saw some debris falling down, loosened by the constant attacks. In the last second he grabbed the blue-haired girl and pulled her off the gurney, which immediately afterwards got smashed by a huge chunk of concrete.

"Aaahhh!" the girl, Rei, screamed in pain at the sudden motion.

More debris fell down, and this time, Shinji was sure he had no chance to escape. _So this is the end? What a way to go... _**-CLANG-**_ Wait a second...we are still alive. _Looking up, Shinji saw in awe that the huge mecha's hand was held protectively over them, having intercepted the debris.

"It moved... It's impossible! Even the entry plug has never been inserted yet. It can't move!" Ritsuko insisted, totally surprised by this turn of events. She had never before seen that piece of junk moving, hadn't even expected it despite knowing all the facts and that it was remotely possible.

Misato was also baffed, having seen the first reaction from the EVA in all her time in NERV. But she was more concerned with the action itself. "It reacts without the interface... Or rather, did it protect him? ... Maybe he can do it."

Shinji didn't waste any time over this so-called wonder. Instead he looked at the injured girl in his arms. She was moaning in pain, some of her injuries having started to bleed again after being re-opened by the movement. He looked into her uncovered eye. He was scared how expressionless it was, as if there was nothing behind it, no real emotion. But, no, there was also something else. A small plead just to make the pain stop.

Shinji looked up to his father, who hadn't moved in all the time. "All right...It looks like I have no choice but to do it. But I tell you this: I do not do it for you... And she belongs into a bed. Should I not see her properly treated when I come back, I will leave," he growled to him, his anger at being given no choice and that others, namely Rei, suffered because of Gendo, made him angry.

"Good... Dr. Akagi, prepare everything for the start." Gendo then left.

"Don't worry...I won't let anything happen to you," Shinji tried to calm down Rei. He then took off his locket. "Misato...please keep this for me. It means so much for me...I don't want to lose it during whatever will happen."

"Don't worry...I will keep it safe."

* * *

_...a few minutes later..._

Shinji was relieved that he wasn't claustrophobic, because the cockpit of the entry plug was really small. He had no idea how the hell he was supposed to move that thing, the control sheme looked pretty simplistic but alien to him, and he wondered what he was supposed to do at all. These strange hair clips looked silly, but Dr. Akagi had said they were needed for better nerve connection, whatever that meant.

Suddenly the plug started to fill with a sort of light orange liquid. "Ahhh! What the hell, you want to drown me?"

"Don't worry. After your lungs fill with LCL, it'll directly supply you with oxygen. You'll get used to it soon," Ritsuko tried to reassure him over the comm, but she was lousy with it.

Shinji tried to hold his breath for a while, but finally he had to give in and the LCL filled his lungs. To his surprise, he really was able to breathe. But there was something else...something disgusting. "Yuuuagh. I'm going to be sick!"

"Stand it! You are a boy, aren't you?" Misatio tried to keep his whining short.

"This has nothing to do with being a boy! You try to sit in something that looks like, and probably tastes like piss!" Shinji shot back. That shut Misato up.

The activation went on, and Shinji felt strange, as if his mind expanded. The screens around him sprang to life. He blinked several times...he felt a little as if he was leaving his body. Really curious.

"Success! The EVA has went online for the first time ever!" Maya Ibuki, Ritsuko's assistant, reported, reading the data from the screen. "And...The rate of synchronization is 41,3 percent. How is that possible with no prior training?"

"We shouldn't care for now," Ristuko decided. She had a distant idea why, but she kept that for herself, especially with the Commander present.

"All values of the harmonics are normal. Everything is under control. We are ready to launch," Maya concluded her report.

At once the starting catapult was readied. Misato used that time to give some last words to Shinji. "I know you have no idea how to use it...just try what you can, think your movements... And please come back in one piece, all right?"

"I hope that, too," Shinji replied somewhat unsure. He was going to go against a huge monster with no battle training at all. He wondered, who was more stupid: his father for forcing him, or he himself for actually doing it.

"Launch!" Misato commanded, and suddenly Shinji was pressed into his seat, when the unit was moved to the surface with high speed.

* * *

_...on the surface..._

Sachiel was glad that all these annoying insects were now gone. They had hurt him, really hurt him with that last strike. But nothing he couldn't repair. Shooting another charge at the ground, he slowly expanded the beginning of the tunnel he would use to reach his goal. The call was not entirely clear, but it it felt like Adam, his father, and the father of all his brothers and sisters.

How dare the spawn of Lilith do something like this! They all loved their father with all of their heart, well, if they had one. When they had hurt him 15 years ago, they had decided to rescue him. But they had needed time to come to this plane. And now he was the first, and he would bring their father to safety.

Thinking of Lilith, their treacherous mother, made him shoot the next beam with much more force. She and Adam could have had this world together with their children for themselves. Instead she had turned her back on them, casted them away, to in turn manipulate the biosphere of this world to create a weak offspring of their kind. The Children of Lilith were weak and inferior. And as soon as Adam was safe, they would first find their treacherous mother and destroy her, before doing the same with her bastard brood.

**_Soon, father, soon... _**he thought.

Sachiel wanted to shoot the next beam, when he noticed the presence of Lilith. Looking around, what he saw...was a abnormination! Formed like their father, but it clearly smelled of Lilith. Enraged over this perversion of the Lilum, he decided to destroy that...that thing first!

_**I will rip you apart, you FREAK!**_

"Ah! This thing doesn't work as I want!" Shinji screamed, while trying to get the controls right. They had said that he had to think most of it, but that was easier said than done! He was moving, all right, but it was more like a drunk than normal walking. How was he expected to fight like this? He had only managed to plug in the cable for his unit, but nothing more! Then he saw big, bad and ugly running towards him. "Oh-uh!"

With a lound crash, the Angel gripped Unit-01 and threw it down on the ground. "Owwww!" Shinji had felt it, as if he was smashed. Only to be replaced by a wince, when the Angel grabbed the EVA's left arm.

"Shinji, keep calm, it isn't your real arm!" Misato tried to get through to him.

"It's useless, the pain is paralyzing him"

"The AT-field hasn't deployed, that looks really bad!"

"No field? Why that?" Ritsuko shot to them, not having expected this development.

**-crac-**

"AAAAHHHHHH!" Shinji screamed, when the EVA's left arm snapped. It felt like his real arm was broken, through.

"Shinji, fight against it!" Misato pleaded, hoping that he would hear her.

**_And now for the final touch... _**

However, new bad news arrived too fast. "It is attacking the head, it is going after the pilot! If this goes on, the head armour will crack soon!" Another head-on shot...and it smashed through the armour.

"The system is shutting down!"

Shinji sat unmoving in the pilot's seat, nearly totally knocked out with pain, full of fear. He didn't want to die! _No, I don't want to die! Help! Please... PLEASE HELP, SOMEONE! _he screamed in his head, tears streaming out of his eyes in pain. _Please..._

He was already preparing for the next hit, when sudenly he felt like he was held in someone's arms, being told that the pain will go away, and that the ones who did this to him would pay for hurting him. He had no idea what it was, but he let it flow into him, and it soothed his pain, while he felt the unit moving again.

Sachiel knew he had won, a few more hits, and that perversion was history. Then, he would return to his original task. He wasn't prepared for that thing suddenly jumping up, it's eyes flashing dangerously. Then it let out a fear inspiring roar.

Sachiel knew, it was a death-threat.

In the control room, everything had become hectical, with the EVA suddenly coming to life. "This is impossible, the EVA is totally out of control! It is moving on its own, all signals are blocked, we can't recieve anything!" Maya reported, hectically.

As if totally mad, the EVA jumped the Angel, bashing on him in pure anger. The Angel thew it away with a blast form its eye-weapon, activating its AT-field to keep away the enemy. Unit-01 smashed against the field, roaring in anger at being denied to hit its enemy.

**_Just wait... _**Sachiel hadn't expected this, but now he was forewarned. He wouldn't underestimate this perversion again. Loading up his hand and eye weapons, he prepared for a clean power-shot...when he saw in horror something that shouldn't be possible.

"It is deploying its own field, breaking through the AT-field of the Angel!" was reported over the bridge.

They watched in horror how the out-of-control EVA broke through the field finally grabbing the Angel's weapon-arm, squeezing it hard, before cleanly ripping it off, throwing it away. It then went on to trash the Angel, hitting it again and again.

"Berserker..." was all Ritsuko could say.

Misato on the other hand was sickened when seeing this bloody, fear inspiring spectacle. "Oh my God, Ritsuko, what kind of monster have you created?"

The Eva smashed the Angel to the ground, starting to hit the big sphere of his core. It only now wanted one thing...to feast on the red thing.

Sachiel had never before felt so much pain. That thing...was a monster! It had ripped off his arm after breaking it, and now it was hitting his core, threating to break it. The sphere already had several cracks. He knew, he wouldn't survive this confrontation now.

_**Forgive me father, I wasn't strong enough...Now I will never see you again...**_

Hugging the monster close, he did the last thing he could do...he ignited his core to take that thing with him.

**-BOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM-**

Everyone in the control center watched the smoke of the explosion, fearing the worst. Suddenly, the screens went back to life, the data feed restored. Misato was relieved, when she heared that the pilot was all right, only very weak. Seconds later, the view from the entry plug flashed on screen.

"Shinji, how do you feel?" Misato asked him.

"So weak...I can't..."

Dr. Akagi looked to the screen "Please, it is no shame for a boy to faint." She then turned off the screen to give him some privacy for that. "Is the recovery crew already on the way?" she then asked Misato.

"They should be there soon. He now needs a proper bed."

None of them had a eye for the Commander and Vice-Commander leaving, as if having something to talk about.

* * *

_...in the EVA..._

Shinji felt his eyes becoming heavy. He welcomed it. He felt a whisper of whatever had comforted him go over him for the last time. He thought he had heared the whisper "I'm so proud of you", before he fell into a deep sleep.

_**to be continued...**_

_**Next Episode:**_

_**"Welcome to NERV"  
**_


	3. Welcome to NERV

I will say these things in advance: I have absolutely no rights at NGE, but you should have already known that. 

The story itself is basically a re-telling of the original storyline, but twisted into my way. While at the beginning there seem to be only few divigances, it will become more with each episode. The people, their motivations and the backgrounds are while holding true to the basic layout, changed at my imagination in many details, so canon-purists now are allowed to flame me.

NOTE: I hate both, the ending of the TV series, and how End of Evangelion turned out. So don't expect any of those outcomes.

This will be Shinji/Rei.

For all the work I put into this, I would like to get reviews. I will always try to respond to every review I get.

* * *

**Chapter 2: Welcome to NERV**

_...office of Gendo Ikari..._

"It seems, your expections weren't exactly met. You thought that your son would be in a defensive mindset and quite anti-social. However, after watching him, I must say, for me he acts totally normal for a boy of his age. He even seems to be quite strong-willed, considering the way he went against you, Gendo," Fuyutsuki told the Commander as soon as they had retreated to his dark office. 

And Gendo's office was really a dark place. And very depressing. Not even one personal touch was added to it. It was just a desk in the middle of a big blackness, the shutters always closed. The only decoration actually was the tree of life engraved on the ceiling, otherwise the room was cold and lifeless. Like its occupant. Since Yui's disapperance, the fire had went out within him, leaving behind a emotionally broken man, who had rid himself of any kind of emotion so that he couldn't be hurt again, driven only by the fanatic wish to see her again, regardless in which way and at what cost.

"Yes...I now regret that we stopped observing him so soon. Otherwise we would have known of these changes in character. We simply thought he wouldn't change anymore. This will complicate certain things. But we can adapt our plans to it, so it doesn't matter in the end. The scenario will hold. His loyality to us however, is now...in doubt," Gendo concluded.

Fuyutsuki wondered again, how his old friend could stay so cold, even when talking about his own son. "Most of his rebellious behaviour and anger is directed at you on a personal level. I think we can ensure his lasting cooperation by minimising his contact to you. Delegating everything that would mean meeting him to substitiutes would be best to avoid any incidents that could make him turn away from us in anger."

"Substitiutes like you?" Gendo asked, without even looking to him. "Then you will take over my duties in general concerning the pilots, except the First Child, she will remain as my personal concern. I can't be bothered with such trivial things. Other things will be more important very soon."

"The old men?" Fuyutsuki asked nervously. Despite knowing about them for many years, they still made him nervous.

"They surely want a report from me soon. They still think they hold the strings."

"That is a dangerous game you play there, Gendo," Fuyutsuki reminded him, "Your only advantage is right now, that you play with some hidden extra cards. But the old men know that you are replaceable, so better be careful."

"And I will win, because one of them is the trump card." Gendo then noticed a red light on his desk terminal. "This is them." Withount another word, Gendo went through a hidden door in the wall, which closed airtight behind him. The Vice-Commander looked after him, then shook his head in sadness.

_Gendo, what have you done to yourself? You were once so full of life, even when sheming, and now you are literally a shadow of yourself..._ he thought in bitterness.

When Gendo had returned a week after the incident that destroyed his wife, he had been shocked how much to the worse he had changed. Yui's death had caused him to erase all good and joy in his life. It was as if Gendo Ikari had stopped living and only merely existed now. Yui wouldn't recognise her husband now. 

But what he hadn't dared to say was, that Shinji actually reminded him much of Gendo in his youth. Strong-willed, full of life and not shy to face a confrontation. He hoped that Shinji wouldn't turn out to be like his father was now.

In that way he was glad that the Commander had no desire to deal with his son and other future pilots on any level. Despite knowing how Rei had been created, he felt sorry for the girl. Seeing how Gendo's influence had made her retreat into a shell of total indifference to anyone and anything not directly connected to the purpose of her existence was painful. No, he wouldn't wish them to be treated like that. He had grown up with good human values, and he knew that a lot of things they, and he himself, did, were wrong. But he already was far too deep in it to jump off the ship, so he could only try to make the best of it and not let it destroy him while trying to prevent the worst.

Leaving the office, he remembered something, when thinking of Rei. From what he had gathered from Dr. Akagi, she had the same range of emotions as everyone else, as well as the thirst to learn and curiosity. But they had been burried deep within her due to years of emotionless, isolated existing combined with indoctrination. But despite her...enhancements, she essentially was still a human being. And these were known to be quite unpredictable. It was only a hunch, but he hoped that young Ikari would give her the spark she needed.

_Interesting, he is only here for less than a hour, but already it feels like the winds of change come... _he mused, while walking down the corridor to his office. There were things he had to do now, whith his new field of responsibility. Meaning the bane of his existence: paperwork.

* * *

_...the next day, NERV-hospital..._

_An unknown ceiling..._ was what Shinji first thought when waking up.

Looking around, he noticed that he was in what looked like a hospital room, in a quite comfortable bed. He had slept like a rock and felt quite refreshed. Then he remembered what had brought him here. _So my old man did manage to make me his soldier...I should have known that he has tricks up his sleeve._

Feeling around he realized that he was naked under the bed sheet. Looking around, he didn't see either his clothes or his bag, meaning that he had to wait until someone would come and help him. Thankfully he hadn't had to wait to wait for long, when Ritsuko walked in, a clipboard in her hand. 

"Not that I want to conplain, I have slept really good, but I feel somewhat exposed..." Shinji told her, keeping the sheet in place to preserve his modesty.

"That was neccassary, your clothes were soaked with LCL and had been in the wash. They are in there," she explained, pulling out a plastic box from under the bed. "And you needed a wash, too, after being soaked with it." Seeing Shinji blushing, she added "It were two of the nurses who did it. They see something like that every day, so no reason for embarrassment."

Shinji breathed in relief, assured that these two had a professional mindset towards his nudity. "There is a God... Uh, by the way, by what I heared, you are one of the science people here. How comes that you are here now?"

She made some markings on her clipboard. "Beside computers, biology and genetics, I also have a doctorate in human medcine. I'm directly responsible for the medical needs, treatments and reports of the pilots. Of course you are only a pilot if you are still interested."

Shinji sighed, hating himself for saying the next thing. "As far as I understand, there are more of these things you call Angels out there. And as injured as Rei is, I'm at the moment the only one who can do the job. So I have no choice, as loathe as I am to say it. Rei...how is she?"

Ritsuko arched an eyebrow at this interest in the First Child. She was a total stranger for him, so that made her curios. "She is resting at the moment in another room. Her injuries will still take some time to heal."

"Can I see her?" Shinji asked hopeful. "Eh...of course after I have dressed."

Ritsuko thought about it. She didn't really care for Rei, actually disliked her, but one the other hand, Shinji seemed really concerned about her. "Actually, the Vice-Commander and Misato want to see you as soon as you are up, concerning you signing up for the job officially... But, all right, letting them wait some minutes can't hurt. Get dressed, I wait outside." She then left him alone.

Shinji only needed a few minutes to get ready, and she brought him to Rei's room. She was sleeping at the moment, this time wearing a hospital grown instead of the tight suit. Shinji was still concerned how many injuries she had. "What I wanted to ask: how did that happen? It looks like she was beaten up by a gang."

"Was some days ago. A activation test with her Unit-00 went gravely wrong. We still have no idea what exactly had happened. The EVA totally freaked out. Even with the LCL, she was thrown through her cockpit like in a alcohol shaker, thus the injuries," Dr. Akagi explained.

"So that is why he suddenly called me. Rei got injured, and he needed someone to take her place while she was out of it," Shinji suddenly realised. "I don't even want to know what she had went through..."

"You seem to care for her," she observed.

"I don't like to see people in pain. And she looks so innocent..."

Ritsuko held back a comment that Rei was a tool in quite a big thing, with her knowing. "Well, she isn't a very social girl. Rather she is withdrawn, even I don't understand her most of the time. Well, now come, the others are surely waiting."

"Get well, Rei." Then they left the room.

As soon as the door was closed, Rei's uncovered eye opened. She was confused that the Commander's son, without even knowing her, was concerned about her well-being. It was something she had never experienced before. No one had ever been concerned about her, only that she could function properly. She had forgotten how emotions felt like, but his concern for her made her feel...warm. This of course confused her further, because she hadn't experienced something like that for years.

_Shinji...Ikari... _She had no idea what to think of him, since she simply had no idea how to act around someone who cared. Everyone else at NERV and at school, avoided her. The only closer contacts she had were Dr. Akagi and the Commander, and both weren't the caring type, despite the Commander trying to show otherwise.

Tired as she was, she went back to sleep, shoving the incident to the back of her mind.

* * *

_...office of the Vice-Commander..._

Unlike Gendo's office, the office of the Vice-Commander was totally different. It was much smaller, and had big windows, making it very bright and well-lit. Also, on his desk were serveral pictures of his grandchildren, children and his late wife. Combined with several other personal touches, the office was relaxing. But of course Shinji had no idea of the difference when he went in together with Ritsuko.

"Ah, young Ikari, please sit down," Fuyutsuki greeted him. Misato was already there, occupying one of the three chairs, while the Vice-Commander sat behind his desk, his presence without doubt the focus point of the entire room. Shinji and Ritsuko took their seats. "No one has done so yet, so let me tell you that we are all very thankful that you saved the day yesterday."

"Uh, thank you, Sir. However, I'm myself not entirely sure what happened. One second I had no idea what to do, and suddenly the machine went amok and ripped the Angel apart. To be honest, it was a little frightening," Shinji admitted.

"We had speculated that something like that could happen. But be assured that the Unit's first priority is always the safety of its pilot. Now, can we expect you to remain in our service and become a pilot for NERV as the Third Child?" he asked Shinji.

"I don't think I have much of a choice, so count me in. I was told there are more of these Angels and I'm for now the only one to do the job. Protecting people is more important than the vendetta with my father. But that reminds me...you called me the Third Child, and Rei is the First Child. Shouldn't there be also a Second Child?"

Misato answered this. "She is still in Europe together with her EVA. The German government is reluctant to allow us to transfer her from the base there to Tokyo-3. Pity, you might like her. But maybe now that the attacks have started, they will release her and Unit-02 to us... Oh! I almost forgot!" Fishing something out of her pocket, she returned the locket to Shinji. "I think you want this back."

He put it back on. "Thanks. What is she called?"

"Asuka Langely Soryu. I bet you will work perfectly together, once she is here. I already have worked with her. Quite a wild girl, if you ask me."

"That, and she is at the moment our best pilot. After years of training, she easily reaches a sync-ratio of 71 percent. At pity that she and Unit-02 are out of our reach at the moment. But don't let this intimidate you. You are a natural pilot, with 41 percent at the first try, something Asuka needed a long time for. We are actually lucky to find you, a boy who can go with EVA so easily. It will be only a matter of time, before you will be in her league," Dr. Akagi added.

Shinji meanwhile saw the Vice-Commander putting his work contract in front of him on the desk. Shinji didn't bother to read it, as he already had a good guess of its contents. But he saw no numbers on it. "Uh..before I sign, how much exactly do I get for risking my neck?"

"I'm surprised. Not many dare to ask how high their salary is when joining our agency. The standard fee for our pilots, including the danger pay, is 400.000 Yen per month.(that's roughly 2.500 Euro)" Seeing Shinji's surprise at being paid so well, he added with a gentle smile, "But that shouldn't be a license for spending all of it. Since you are a minor, and not done with school, half of it will go into a saving account."

"Oh, well..200.000 Yen is still a lot of money." Shinji then signed the contract.

"Then welcome to NERV, young Ikari. Hopefully you can turn the tide in this war." Fuyutsuki looked to the two woman in the room. "Captain Katsuragi will be responsible for the commanding of you and your fellow pilots in battle, if not overruled by me or the Commander. She also is responsible for all the details revolving around the pilots except the First Child, while all bigger decisions have to be approved by me first. Dr. Akagi will be responsible for most of your training, except the parts the Captain will do, and the medical parts."

"Uh, two questions, Sir. Why is Captain Katsuragi not responsible for Rei? And I have to move my belongings to Tokyo-3, how will I do that?" Shinji asked.

"The First Child was always a direct matter of interest for your father. It is not my place to tell his reasons, only that he actually is her legal guardian. Concerning your belongings, Captain Katsuragi will manage the moving of them to your rooms here. Which reminds me... Captain, what IS the situation concerning that?"

"Well, logistics make it too hard for him to go to school while living in the geofront itself. And I don't dare to send him to one of the apartment blocks NERV owns at the edge of the city. You know in what condition they are, Sir," Misato reported, remembering too well Rei's living arrangements.

Obviously the Vice-Commander knew this as well, as he frowned a little for a second when reminded of Rei's living arrangements. "Yes, that would be unsuitable, especially for a minor like him. So what do you suggest?"

"I planned that since I have a free room, that I will take him under my wing as his guardian, since he is a minor as you pointed out, Sir. That will solve several problems at once," Misato explained her plan.

Ritsuko bit back a retort while in the presence of her superior. "I don't know... It is not that you have any practise with that. And considering your way of living," she voiced her concern.

"Do you have a better idea?" Misato challenged Ritsuko. "Thought so..." she concluded, when getting silence as an answer.

"You are all right with that?" Seeing a nod, the Vice-Commander gave Misato a folder. "Good, then do it so. In there you will find everything needed. I will leave the schedules and the other details to your planning. If there is nothing more that needs my attention..."

Having nothing more that needed his attention right now, the three left his office. "Dr. Akagi, what did you mean with that, her way of living?" Shinji asked as soon as they were outside.

"Wait and see..." she said cryptically, while Misato shot her a dangerous glance that said that this was enough. Becoming all business, she then told him, "I expect you tomorrow, at 10:00 in the morning. I have to give you a complete exam and then we have to get the exact measurements for your plugsuit." She then left.

"Misato, what is it with this knowing smile?" Shinji asked his new guardian, not feeling well when seeing it. It felt like impending doom was on the way.

"Oh, wait and see..." she only answered, mimicing Ritsuko's voice.

Walking back to the car deck, Shinji decided change the topic. "I still have to call my friends and my uncle, telling them that I won't return for a long time... Oh, and what am I supposed to do for now?"

"Well, it will take some time before you go to school here, two weeks to be exact, since we don't want a repeat of yesterday, much training to get used to the controls and using the EVA comes first. But I think you also have a interest of getting better to stay alive, don't you?" Misato explained to him. "But first things first..."

"What first?"

"I have a new housemate, so we will have a welcome party for a new lodger!" Misato declared cheerful.

* * *

_...two hours later..._

Shinji was just glad that with her car damaged, Misato was unable to use her usual kamikaze style of driving, of which he had gotten a taste of when she had picked him up last day. Was better that way, he had been surprised how alive the city now was. Sure, the damage was clear to the eye...and he had thought the city to be...bigger.

Noticing the many military transports, Misato had explained to him that they were getting new and better hardware, while the city was already under repair. Thankfully, it had been built the way, that repairing it would be easy. She told him that Ritsuko had a field day with the arm he had ripped off the angel, despite it being mostly burned to a crisp because of the explosion of its core.

During their drive, he had used the car phone to talk with his uncle. Keldor was understanding of the situation that protecting people was more important than his anger, and promised to send his stuff as fast as possible. His friends were disappointed that he wouldn't be with them for a long time, and while they didn't know why he was away, they wished him good luck.

In the convenience store, he had heard from the general public the first time, what they thought of this. They were frightened, and many thought about moving away from Tokyo-3. And actually he understood them. If he wouldn't be a pilot, he would get the heck out of Tokyo-3. Remembering the store...he had to speak with Misato about her grocery shopping habits. The stuff was pure ready-made microwave dinners, instant-food and other stuff he had learned to avoid long ago.

One other thing he had learned was that the NERV-card was far more than just an ID-card. After seeing Misato pay with it he had asked her about it. So she had told him that it had many uses. Cash card for electronic paying, ATM card to get cash from his account, ID-card, security card to enter NERV and even a way to use the subway without a fee. It made him aware that he should always hold on it.

Right now they were at a cliff overlooking the city. It almost looked like the entire inner city was missing, with only smooth concrete and metal in its place. "Not much to look at...why are we here, exactly?" he asked Misato.

"Just wait a little longer. It is a surprise," she only said.

Suddenly sirens howled, huge hatches opened in the ground, and... Shinji looked twice. It was real. The whole inner city was growing from the ground, the buildings pushed upwards from their hidden locations underground, filling the empty area. "That is why it is called a fortress!" The now complete city looked quite breathtaking. "Wow! So that was what I saw at the ceiling of the geofront."

"Yes, this is the real Tokyo-3, the city whose protector you are now."

Shinji swallowed when hearing that. All these lives, and now he was responsible for protecting them from the Angels. Could he do it? No, he HAD to do it. This went far beyond his vendetta with his father, he was now responsible for people.

He hoped he could shoulder this weight.

* * *

_...half a hour later..._

Shinji now knew why Dr. Akagi had warned him about moving in with Misato...

Misato's apartment was a dump! And considering her statements that she had moved into it only recently, she had to be a really bad slob. It only went worse when it came to the kitchen. It was so distgusting. Beside it being a dirty hole, he wondered why she hadn't a ulcer after eating so much unhealthy stuff. And the big collection of beer cans finally had convinced Shinji fully, that Misato had some serious problems in her private life. And the second fridge still puzzled him. Well, after managing to mix together something ediable from all the junk food stuff she had, they were now sitting at the table, with Misato having changed into something more comfortable (or revealing, in Shinji's opinion).

"Say, Misato, what is the deal with Rei? Dr. Akagi told me some things, but why is she that way?" he asked her.

"Beats me. She was already there when I started, and she was already like this even back then. Maybe it's because she was raised by your father, or because she lives in a shabby apartment block ready to be demolished?" she answered, taking another bite. She was surprised that Shinji had managed for it to be that good. They would have to discuss the chores later.

_Raised by my father...brrr, horrifying thought!_ Shinji shuddered inwards. It however matched with what the Vice-Commander had told him.

"Why do you ask? Hmmmm? I guess you got a little crush on a certain blue-haired girl?" Misato teased him, leaning forward. 

Shinji went red, but then decided to turn the tables. He still wouldn't react openly to her displays, despite being embarrassed by his hidden reactions, simply because he was only in girls of his own age group. "Ohhh, Misato, didn't know you prefer sky blue bras," he teased back.

Misato noticed that she had given him a free show and sat back down. That was the second time he had simply shot down her teasing. And that reaction... Had this boy no testicles? Other boys of his age would drool over her, acting like idiots, or would have fainted on the spot after the first display. Deciding that she shouldn't brood over it, she opened the third beer of the meal.

Seeing her on the third beer made him sick, especially since she already seemed so hardened that she wasn't even slightly drunk yet. It reminded him of something he had wanted to forget. And he really didn't want her to share his fate. He hoped telling her this would show her how unhealthy that stuff was.

"Misato..seeing you drinking like that remembers me of someone I knew..." he finally told her.

"Oh, really? Who?" she happily asked, taking another sip from her can, the alcohol only slightly clouding her senses.

"The father of one of my friends. He also drank at least 8 cans of beer a day, most times more, without getting drunk."

"Must be a great man with 8 or more cans and no ill-effects. Why do you speak of him in the past tense?"

"Because he is dead. His liver and kidneys were totally ruined by all the beer when he was brought into the clinic, literally rotted away while he was still alive. He was for a year hooked on machines with more cables and tubes than I could count before he passed away 35 years young. _'Alcohol was my bane'_ stands on his tombstone."

**-pprrrooottsh-** Misato spat out her beer, coughing, when the mental picture manifested itself in her head. "-cough- oh...-cough- that is.." Shinji played totally innocent, while starting to wash the dishes. Misato now had a picture of herself in her head, lying in a hospital bed, connected to machines with tubes and wires, barely able to move while she was only skin and bones. She turned green and her stomach started revolting.

"Excuse me..." 

Shinji watched her running to the bathroom with her hand over her mouth and then he heared her violently thowing up into the toilet _I should feel guilty..._ _but it is for the best._ He then returned to the task at hand, while seeing a disgusted looking penguin walking to the second fridge. He couldn't wait to hear what_ his_ story was.

Later that evening, he was in bed, when he again heared Misato running to the bathroom for the fourth time in under half a hour. _Looks like the shock-treatment worked... I didn't expect that it would have so much effect. Hopefully she now stays sober._ Shinji had to admit, she was a strange woman.

Who else would have a warm-water penguin as a pet? And Pen-Pen seemed more mature than her at times. But he knew he had important things tomorrow and would need his sleep. Drifting slowly asleep, he wondered what the future would bring. 

In the bathroom meanwhile, Misato coughed out the last remains of the contents of her stomach, which wasn't much after the fourth throw-up. It was disgusting and disturbing. She had tried four times to get a can before going to bed. But each time she opened the can, the disturbing hospital-picture came back to her in all its glory details, and she became sick, ending with a mad dash to the bathroom. The mental picture had literally branded itself into her brain and she was by now convinced that it totally ruined any chance of ever again enjoying a can of beer without getting sick as a dog. So much was sure for her. She cursed herself for having such a active imagination.

It almost broke her heart that she had to get rid of her stock of the best brew now. While she guessed that Shinji had done it with her best interests at heart, she nonetheless was mad at him. Calming herself to prevent any kind of harsh reaction, she remembered his appointment with Ritsuko next day.

"Payback is a bitch, just wait what Ritsu will do..." She had a very good idea what Ritsuko's program would include.

* * *

_...the next day..._

"Ah, good, there you are," Dr. Akagi said when she saw Shinji entering her office. She didn't waste much words. "Please come with me, and we get the show on."

They walked down the halls to the medical section. "So, you now understand why I warned you about living with Misato?" she asked him on the way.

"Oh yeah. I was quite shocked to see her way of living. She is the biggest slob I've ever seen, lives on fast food, has nothing against embarrassing herself, has a pet penguin and a alcohol problem. Well, I have good hope that she at least is over the last thing."

Ritsuko snorted, "That would be a wonder. I will only believe that when I see it myself. She can't stop drinking as much as I can stop smoking." Shinji realized how convinced she was of her statement when remembering the cigarette stubs in the ashtray in her office.

"Chain smoking will kill you."

"Well, if the Angels destroy the world, my danger of dying because of lung cancer becomes irrelevant. Should they be defeated, then I can think about quitting," Ritsuko stated.

"Well, that point goes to you," Shinji admitted.

"Well, here we are," she said. Walking in, Shinji saw what seemed to be a normal examination room. Two other, now closed, doors led to other rooms. He heared Ritsuko closing the room door behind him. "You know that part of that will be somewhat personal. So I say that in advance, I will treat this purely professional."

"Eh, thank you," Shinji answered. "So what do I have to do now?"

"Well, first before we do anything, please take care of you personal business. We already took the needed samples while you were in the hospital. And I need you empty for some things," Ritsuko told him, pointing to one of the doors.

Shinji felt like groaning. He had no idea if he should feel violated, but he guessed that they had done it while he was out was better for his dignity. He reappeared out of the door several minutes later. "All done. What now?"

She pointed to a dressing screen. "Please strip down to your boxers, all right?"

Taking a deep breath, he did as ordered, but that didn't mean that he felt comfortable with it. He felt exposed wearing only his boxers near a woman, doctor or not. _If that is what Misato warned me of, then she must have imagined worse..._

He had no idea of the things to come. 

At first Ritsuko made the usual standard tests, while asking him many things at the same time. Heart, lungs, eyes, ears, a look at his throat, reflex testing and many other things Shinji already knew from the last times he had been on a regular check-up. Shinji noted that beside him being in his boxers, it wasn't as bad as he had feared.

He again had no idea, that the last two examinations would be the worst.

"Ok, Shinji. So far, you look good." She then snapped on a pair of disposable rubber gloves. "Only two parts left. Please drop them."

"W-what!" he stuttered.

"Shinji..."

Shinji reddened, and finally dropped his boxers. Without blinking an eye, Ritsuko examined him there, too. Shinji was thankful, when she was done with it. "Looks good, too. All right, now the last part." She used new gloves, coating them with something. "Bend over." Seeing his shocked face, she added "Look, I will try to be as gentle as possible."

Taking a deep breath, he did as told, but felt really uncomfortable with it, the squeaking of the rubber gloves didn't help. "Urgh..." he winced. Thankfully after a minute it was over and she allowed him to put them back on.

The examinations done, hearing and sight tests followed. Then she let him run on a treadmill, made him do some pushups while monitoring his stats on the screen. Finally, she seemed statisfied with all the data she got.

"Well, looks like you are in good health," she finally concluded.

"Ah, does that mean I can dress now?" Shinji asked her, hopeful.

"No, we still have to get the exact measurements for your plugsuit. The machinery is now ready, so come with me. We will have the procedure right now, so we can do it all at once while we are at it," Dr. Akagi replied, walking to the last door.

The room was small. The only thing in it was a curious looking machine. Main part of it was a transparent tube of roughly one meter diameter, and he guessed its hight went roughly to his neck. A metallic ring with some sort of gadget was on its top, and a ladder led up to it. It was filled with some sort of colorless gel. Beside the tube was a control unit and several data monitors.

Dr. Akagi explained. "The tube is filled with a special type of LCL. The machinery can use it to read your exact body profile so that the plugsuit can be specially made. There are some things you should know. First and foremost, you need to be totally naked for it, you can't even cover yourself with your hands, and that for a hour."

"Is my dignity so worthless?" Shinji complained.

Ritsuko was not known to be the most compassionate person, but that didn't mean she couldn't understand other people's feelings. "Look, I will try not to look at you and concentrate on the monitors, all right?" Seeing his silent agreement, she continued. "You also have to know that the stuff has to be stored at very low temperatures, so it is barely 3 degrees celsius cold. After the first shock however your body will interact with the LCL, and you won't feel cold or fare any ill-effects." She then turned to the control unit. "Now get naked and step in. Don't worry about overflow. And again, I won't peek."

Seeing that he had no choice, he stepped out of his boxers. Making sure one more time that Ritsuko wasn't looking, he got up the ladder before getting into the tube, sinking into the stuff. "Ahh!" he yelped while his body was shocked at the coldness. Nonetheless he sunk up to the neck into it. "C-cold!"

"Don't worry, in a minute you won't feel it..." And really, a little later his body was a little numb, but the coldness wasn't felt anymore. He saw that Dr. Akagi was turned away from him while using the controls, holding true to her promise.

"S-since we have time...Misato was vague about my training. What do I mainly have to do?" Shinji asked.

"Good that you ask. Better prepare yourself for two weeks with much to do. First and foremost, you have to learn how to correctly control the EVA, at the same time we will try to raise your synch-ratio to give you more control over the unit. We will combine this with melee and distance weapon training..." she started to explain.

A little over a hour later, a dressed Shinji left the examination room, only to meet Misato. "Well, how was it?" she asked innocently.

Shinji eyed her with a mean glance. "Don't pretend you didn't know." Being submerged totally naked for a hour in ice-cold glomp hadn't made his mood better. "Just wait when we divide the house chores."

Misato had a feeling of dread.

* * *

_...two weeks later..._

Shinji went mentally through the last two weeks while walking to his new school for the first day there.

He had gone through a lot of training, but he didn't mind, because he had no desire to have a repeat of last time where he had barely controlled of the EVA. Thankfully he had gotten the knack of it pretty fast, it actually wasn't that difficult once you knew the trick. Sure, he still was new to it, but the routine would come with time. Weapons training was added to it. But of course there had been his share of mishaps, some of them really being blows to his ego.

He had been embarrassed the first time wearing his plugsuit. He had felt naked in it, wearing it directly on his skin. It took some assuring words from Misato to get him out of the locker room. But still his discomfort had been so obvious to everyone, that the bridge crew had told him that is was not revealing, and that the girl plugsuit was _much_ worse, because they actually highlighted their "assets". This finally had reassured him that it was all right wearing it. And the suit actually wasn't uncomfortable, quite in the opposite, it only felt unusual.

His synch-ratio had risen with him getting used to the EVA. At first it had risen fast, but now the rise was much slower. His last score of yesterday was a little under 47 percent. Compared to Rei's 60, or even the 71 of the Second Child, as he was told, he still had way to go. But Ritsuko had told him that she feared that after Rei's accident, her sync-ratio with Unit-00 would be much lower, suffering because of the rejection, and would only recover slowly. 

Thinking of Rei... He had visited her several times, but either the girl was asleep, or didn't react to him at all. Of course that didn't stop him from giving her some kind words. She had left the hospital two days ago, and he was sure he would meet her at school. He remembered the strange vision from the train station, Rei intruiged him. She seemed so unusual.

On a personal level, he had recieved his stuff and made his home in Misato's apartment. She had been miffed for a week that she had laundry and cleaning duty And Shinji had his ways to make sure that she did these, otherwise instead of something cooked, she would only get instant stuff. Since he had her already hooked on his cooking skills, she really did her share. He himself in turn would buy the groceries and take over the cooking. Misato still had a hard time after she had become unable to drink even a single drop of alcohol. The withdrawal pains were still strong after years of drinking, and her mood wasn't the best. But she was slowly getting better.

Reaching his school, he saw that it was standard construction type, meaning he would easily find his way. Entering his class, 2-A, he saw that the class room was almost half empty. He spotted Rei on a seat at the window, looking absently out of it.

"Hey you, are you new here?" a boy with glasses asked him. Shinji missed the look he gave him, as if he already knew him.

"Yes, I'm Shinji Ikari. I need to see the Class Representative," Shinji answered.

"No problem, I'm Kensuke Aida. Hey Class Rep!"

"Yes? What is it, Aida?" a girl with dark brown hair tied in two tails asked.

"Shinji, this is Class Representative Hikari Horaki. Hikari, Shinji is new here and needs a place," described Kensuke the problem at hand.

"All right, there are more than enough places available, with almost half of the class having left the city after the attack..." Looking around, she spotted from her memory the ones that weren't in use. "The place next to Ayanami is free, no one ever wanted to sit there. Is this all right with you?"

That the Class Rep **asked** him if it was all right must have meant that the place beside Rei had become so much avoided that she thought she had to ask if he was ok with being placed at it. Shinji wondered what could have caused that. "No problem, I take that place."

"Good. I will add it to the list-" 

She was interrupted when the door banged open and a boy wearing a sports jacket, and obviously being in a bad mood, entered the room. Shinji could have sworn that Hikari looked longer than anyone else to this boy, who sat down beside Kensuke and started to speak with him. "Who is that?" Shinji finally asked.

"That is Toji Suzuhara. Please don't mind his mood. It is bad since the last battle. His little sister was outside, and debris had smashed her right leg. She will need months to heal, and since then he is in a bad mood," Hikari explained.

_Oh, how horrible! _Shinji thought, but decided to better stay silent. He had no idea how the jock would react to the news, that he was the pilot of Unit-01.

"Hi, Toji, how does your sister fare?" Kensuke greeted his friend. 

"They say the bone fracture will heal, but she will be unable to walk for months. When I get the idiot who piloted that thing! Not only was Kasumi hurt, but this fool managed to destroy a whole city block!" Toji growled, his anger obvious.

"Concerning that...I found out something interesting," Kensuke replied in a whisper. "When I broke into the school computer three days ago, I saw that NERV sent a transfer file to the school. It's about the new guy there, Shinji." Kensuke pointed to Shinji.

"You mean...?"

"No idea. But the file was sent two weeks ago, one day after the battle, with a note to wait two weeks before Shinji has to attend school, as if he had to do something important first. I..eh...leaked it and the rumor now goes through the school. Let's wait what we will get out of him..."

At this moment the teacher entered the room. "Stand! Bow! Sit!" Hikari barked, and the class started.

The more time went by however, the more bored Shinji became, and looking around he guessed that the others fared so as well. The teacher was the pure valium. Droning on about Second Impact to no end, putting his pupils to sleep. The only ones who didn't care were Rei, who still stared out of the window, and Toji, who was still too angry to get bored.

_Where did they get this guy?_ Shinji wondered. At his old school, the teachers had brought over their topics much better. _The Fortress City, last hope of mankind... but they haven't enough money to get good teachers._

Bored to tears, Shinji chewed on a pencil while staring on his laptop screen. Right then, a message came in. '**Can you read this?'** _Huh?_ he wondered, looking around, he spotted two girls waving to him, then one of them typed something more. **'We wonder, are you connected to the battle two weeks ago?'**

_Shit, what should I say? They will get it out anyway, so I should get over it. I only hope that jock won't give me any bruises... _**'Yes, I'm the pilot.'**

He had no idea that all the computers were connected to each other, and suddenly, almost the entire class surrounded him, bombarding him with questions. "How was it?" "Were you scared?" "How were you selected?" 

The teacher didn't even notice, but Hikari was horrified by such behavior. "Sit down!" she commanded, "We are still in school!" But everyone ignored her, instead asking Shinji more questions.

_Oh, perfect! Misato and Ritsuko drilled into me the need for secrecy, and I blew it on my first day! Well, I better act fast, before that goes too far!_ "Stop! Stop! Sorry, but I can't tell most of the stuff, it's secret!" he tried to scare them away to diffuse the situation.

However, as disappointed as they were, they still tried to get something out of him. "Ohh!" "What can you tell us?" "Please, just a little?" 

Shinji sighed. Well, he would tell them some stuff that wasn't important, hopefully that would statisfy their curiosity. "Ok, so much I can tell you. The mecha is called Evangelion Unit-01. I'm still new at this and I have a work contract. There is another unit, but NO, I won't say who pilots it! Only the pilot can decide that!"

Seeing that Shinji wouldn't say anymore, his classmates finally sat back down into their seats, much to Hiraki's relief. Nonetheless, she would put her classmates into their place after the period was over. Shinji didn't miss the look Toji gave him, and he had a feeling that he had just stepped into a minefield. Looking to the other side he saw Kensuke being busy with typing. He had a feeling that this guy would now shadow him on every step.

Rei hadn't acknowledged the scene at all, but of course she had heared everything , and was thinking about it. That the Third Child had refused to tell them that she also was a pilot and saying that it was her decision to tell them... She never had been given any choice. Everything had been foreplanned for her, all the time.

_Pilot...Ikari..._ she thought. Even the Commander had never let her decide, and she didn't know it any different so she didn't mind at all. But to be suddenly given a choice, what should she do? She had no idea.

* * *

_...during the lunch break..._

**-smack!-**

"OUCH!" Shinji winced when the fist knocked him to the ground. Toji had dragged him behind the gym hall, before beating him up. He knew why, but it still felt unfair to him. 

"So, that's for being such a stupid idiot!" Toji hissed.

Kensuke looked down to him, somewhat sorry. "Sorry, but after that thing with his sister..."

"You beat up the wrong guy. You saw Rei? My bastard father, the guy who runs the whole thing, threatend to put her into that thing if I won't do it even without any training," Shinji growled, annoyed by the jock, while spitting out a little blood. He didn't realize that he had spilled the beans about Rei with that.

Toji stopped, he did know how beaten up Rei looked, but he didn't want to admit an error. "You still deserved it!" He then left Shinji alone. Kensuke looked far more interested about the new information about Rei. Apologizing again for Toji, he left, too.

Getting up and leaning against the wall, Shinji wondered how bad his day could get. Feeling his pocket, he stopped. "Great...my cell phone is busted, thanks to this jock," he groaned. "What can happen now to make this day worse?"

"Pilot Ikari?"

Looking to his side, he saw Rei. _She has a beautiful voice,_ he realised. That was the first time he had heared her speaking. "Oh, hello Rei. I only needed a second to recover. How can I help?"

Confused for a second by the question how he could help her, she decided to ignore it. "An Angel has been sighted. We have to go to headquarters, fast," she told him in a flat voice. 

_I shouldn't have thought about it... And I need to ask Misato for a new cell phone later,_ he thought while running down the street together with Rei to the next entrance to the geofront, while in the background the alarm sirens blared and the city was lowered into fortress mode. Just when they were about to reach the entrance, Rei stumbled. Quick, Shinji caught her before she would fall and injure herself.

"Careful, Rei. You are still healing. Please, I don't want to see you getting hurt even more than you already are," Shinji told her, while helping her up. 

Rei blinked several times. For everyone who knew her longer, this was almost a dramatic reaction to something. The repeated concern of Pilot Ikari about her well-being without him having any purpose for it was confusing her. No one had ever shown her concern for her well-being without any reason, even the Commander had his reasons. While he was concerned about her well being, as proved three weeks ago, it was because of her purpose. Pilot Ikari being concerned about her health without any reason made no sense for her. Maybe she should ask the Commander about it?

"Time is of essence," she finally told him, reminding him of the approaching danger, shoving her internal confusion aside for the moment.

Together, they entered the geofront. Rei, because it was the best place for her to be, and Shinji because now he would go through the trial by fire.

**__****to be continued...**

**__****  
Next Chapter: **

**__****"Shamshel"  
**


	4. Shamshel

I will say these things in advance: I have absolutely no rights at NGE, but you should have already known that.

The story itself is basically a re-telling of the original storyline, but twisted into my way. While at the beginning there seem to be only few divigances, it will become more with each episode. The people, their motivations and the backgrounds are while holding true to the basic layout, changed at my imagination in many details, so canon-purists now are allowed to flame me.

NOTE: I hate both, the ending of the TV series, and how End of Evangelion turned out. So don't expect any of those outcomes.

This will be Shinji/Rei.

For all the work I put into this, I would like to get reviews. I will always try to respond to every review I get.

* * *

**Chapter 3: Shamshel**

Shamshel felt the call, like all of them had. And like her brothers and sisters, she wanted to free their beloved father Adam from the clutches of the Lilim. But also the grief over the death of her brother Sachiel motivated her to go against the Lilim that held her father hostage.

**_You Lilim will pay for what you did to my father and my brother! _**shot through her thoughts, while she took course for her target, the city known as Tokyo-3.

She had like all of them seen what had happened to her brother, how a perversion smelling of their traitor-mother Lilith and looking like their father had literally massacred him. That the Lilim had managed to do so had shocked them all. They would have never thought Lilith's spawn to become so powerful. And now they all even more felt that they had to succeed where Sachiel had failed.

But this time, they were warned. She would avenge her brother and destroy the mocking perversion. All of them had sworn it in case the last one failed. All but Tabris, who was missing. He had been an odd one and was already missing for some years, only the havens knew where he was. It was a little disappointing that their youngest brother hadn't sworn together with them. But they all knew that he knew everything.

**_Soon...very soon,_** Shamshel thought, while going faster, burning for battle.

* * *

_...inside NERV..._

"That is supposed to be a joke, right?" Misato groaned when seeing the form of the Angel on the main screen, sent to them from a destroyer on sea that had been simply ignored by it.

"No joke, that thing looks a lot like a giant, pink dildo," Ritsuko added in her calm demanor. She didn't show it because the situation was serious, but that the Angel looked like 'many woman's friend' she found hilarious. But for now she stayed purely professional until the crisis would be over. Then she would laugh her ass off. "However, professionally spoken, it looks like a sort of deep-sea life," she added.

"Whatever..." Misato said, having enough of that topic. "Simply great, the Commander is away just when an Angel attacks."

"That can't be helped now, we have to concentrate on the crisis ahead," the Vice-Commander said from the command stand above them. "What is the status of the evacuation and of our pilot?" he then asked.

"Our pilot has just arrived and is getting ready. The evacuation is complete," reported Lt. Aoba.

* * *

_...in the school shelter..._

Pupils and teachers had found refuge in the shelter deep under the school building. The teachers were still busy with seeing if everyone was accounted for, while Kensuke used the receiver in his camcorder to see what the news said about the city-wide alert. He was in for a disappointment. "They put on a news block, Toji. Great, something happens, and we civilians are left in the dark. Censorship!"

"What did you expect?" Toji asked him, knowing that Kensuke's fixation with all military things was slowly becoming ridiculous. "That's the government. They can do as they please."

Kensuke groaned. "Toji, the point is that they shouldn't do this..." He looked around. "Hey, Toji?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, I really have to tell you something important," Kensuke whispered to him.

"Yeah, shoot."

"Not here..." Kensuke whispered, looking around. "Too many people around here. It is somewhat confidential and I don't want anyone to overhear it."

Toji wondered how deep in this conspiracy fetisch Kensuke really was. Well, if he wanted to play this game, he wouldn't deny him his fun. "Oh, I understand. Just a second..." Looking around, Toji spotted Hikari talking with another girl. "Hey, Class Rep, Kensuke and I take a leak. If you wonder where we are."

"Now?" Hikari wondered in a annoyed voice. Sometimes she really had a problem to understand boys and their bad timing. "There had been enough time for that earlier. Well, all right, just report back when you are done."

* * *

_...NERV command centre..._

"All batteries have opened fire on the Angel. No effect at all," Maya reported. The main screen showed the explosions surrounding the huge Angel, but its AT-field blocked any kind of damage. The only things it accomplished were a fireworks and propably making the Angel even more angry than it already was.

"That's only a waste of taxpayer money," Fuyutsuki commented when seeing the total ineffectiveness of the AA-fire against the Angel. An impressive fireworks that burnt up millions of Yen. Not that it came unexpected for him. He was far more curios how the Third Child would fare in battle, and hoped that he would pass the trial by fire since he wouldn't have the luxury of Unit-01 again helping him. "Captain, the Comitee already gave the green light in advance, so I give you clearence to bring EVA Unit-01 into battle."

"Yes, Sir! Shinji is almost ready to start," Misato acknowledged. _I hope all the training now pays off and he defeats the Angel...Otherwise...no, I better not think about that. _"Shinji?" she asked over the comm.

"I'm ready in a minute!"

Misato then noticed Rei entering the command centre, looking at the screen. "Rei, what are you doing here?" she asked her.

"I wish to observe Pilot Ikari's battle performance and integrate it into my future tactics, Captain Katsuragi," Rei said in a voice so emotionless, that Misato wondered if the girl was alive at all. As this was the first time she had heared Rei say more than three words, it was unusual.

Unsure what to do, Misato looked up to the command level and saw a nod from the Vice-Commander. "Ok, we make an exception. Just don't disturb us, all right?"

"Understood," Rei acknowledged.

Misato returned her attention to the screen, seeing that all indicators were green. "Ready, Shinji?"

"Yes."

"EVA, launch!"

* * *

_...at the surface..._

"I tell, you, it is a stupid idea!" Toji whined while they ran up the stairs on the hill adject to the school. That Kensuke had made him come with him to the surface to watch the battle, getting into danger and trouble, by making him feel guilty for hitting Shinji, had been a low move. "It wouldn't bother me if it would be only your ass that would be at stake, but that you roped me into this..."

"Stop complaining. Remember you have to give moral support," Kensuke reminded him. Hiding behind some bushes on the hill side, they watched the city, and suddenly the huge Angel moving between the buildings. "Fantastic, I waited for this all my life!"

The Angel rightened itself up, and Toji whistled. "Man, that is a really ugly motherfucker!" he commented. "Reminds me of scampies." The Angel deployed energy whips, but seemed to wait for something...or someone.

Suddenly at the sea-side a building opened up, revealing Unit-01 in its full glory. "There it is!" Kensuke cheered, as if he was having an orgasm. "Man! That is so cool..." Toji didn't say anything, but he also was impressed.

Shamshel watched her enemy, not making any hasty moves. That had been Sachiel's death, she would be more careful and wait until this perversion would attack her. She had some surprises for it ready. **_Come...come to me!_**

Unit-01 flickered shortly, when Shinji successfully managed to deploy his own field, the fruits of two weeks of hard training. Misato gave him last orders. "Good, your field is deployed. Now take the Angel under fire to destroy it while neutralizing its AT-field with your own!"

"All right, Misato!"

Jumping out of the cover of the building, Shinji opened fire on the Angel, which didn't seem too concerned about it. All the weapons fire hit only a wall-like hexagonal field very close to the Angel, dissolving into nothing without any effect. Surprised by this, Shinji emptied the whole round into the Angel, but still no effect at all.

"MISATO! What the hell is going on?" he screamed.

"The Angel's AT-field is hugging extremely close to its body! That is why it wasn't neutralized, the EVA is still too far away," Lt. Hyuga reported. "It can only be defeated in melee combat."

"Shinji! Ditch the rifle and..." Misato couldn't get further in her orders, when suddenly the Angel decided to return the favor.

"What..Ahhhh!" Shinji screamed, when the Angel attacked with its energy-whips, cleanly slicing the building beside him and his rifle in two, before slamming him to the ground. His eyes went wide, when he saw the Angel attacking again. Running away as fast as he could, he avoided the whips at the last second. But the Angel followed him, shreddering everything in its path until Shinji stumbled, and fell against a building. The whips lashed out...

**-KROOOM-**

Shinji was thrown through the building, only his AT-field protecting his EVA from getting cut into slices while the structure was pulverised. But something else wasn't protected...

"His cable is cut! Only 5 minutes of battery energy remaining!" Hyuga reported. Misato suddenly realized that the situation was more dire now than they could have thought. But the Angel wasn't done yet. Grabbing Unit-01 by its foot, it held it upside-down before trowing it away, towards the hill where Toji and Kensuke were!

"Oh shit!" Toji stammered.

**-WOMMMMM-**

Both of them had expected a quick death, but when they opened their eyes again, they realised that this had to be their day of fortune. When the EVA had impacted on the hillside, they had been exactly in the open space between two of the fingers of its left hand. Shinji noticed them...the command centre as well.

"They are from Shinji's school," Misato realised, when automatically their data was overlayed on the screen. "What the hell are they doing outside the shelter?" she groaned in anger, seeing red at such a display of stupidy.

Suddenly the the Angel floated over the EVA.

Shamshel felt that in a matter of seconds, she would have won. Just one more strike, and she would cut off the head of this monster. Then, she would go to rescue her father from the Lilim. **_Die, you freak of nature! _**Her whips lashed forward, only to be caught by the thing in its hands. Anger made her push more energy into them. **_You want to play rough? So be it!_**

"Why isn't he standing up? Why isn't he attacking that thing?" Toji wondered.

"Because of us! He tries to protect us!" Kensuke whined, now realizing that this had been a really stupid idea.

"Misato, I will squish them like bugs if I get up! I will let them get in!" Shinji said, barely standing the pain, which felt like his hands were on fire.

"Pilot Ikari, that it against the rules!" Dr. Akagi complained, but he ignored her and opened the plug while holding tight on the whips.

"TOJI! KENSUKE! GET IN HERE! NOW!" he screamed.

Both of them knew, it was either that, or risking to get killed by accident. Jumping into the plug, it closed as soon as they were in, again filling with LCL. "Ahhh! We are going to drown!" Kensuke screamed.

"You can breathe it!" Shinji called. Both of them doubted it, but the air was forced out of their lungs, and they were still alive. Shinji grinded his teeth in pain, before finally managing to throw away the Angel.

"My camera! My camera!" Kensuke screamed, realizing that his camcorder was ruined by the LCL and could only be thrown on the trash.

"There are fluctuations in the synchronisation," Maya reported, the displays showing the waveform going haywire.

"Thought noise. Dammit, these two are totally screwing up Shinji's control with their unfiltered thoughts," Ritsuko cursed.

"Shinji, retreat. You only have 90 seconds left. Go to...Shinji?...Shinji!" Misato tried to command, but Shinji ignored her, instead he readied his prog knife and stared at the Angel. The Angel stared back, as in a showdown in a western. "Damn! What the hell does he think he is doing?" Misato cursed.

Suddenly the Angel shot towards Shinji, and Shinji ran towards it. At the last second, Shinji let the EVA fall on its back, sliding down the hillside, directly under the Angel, where he slammed the knife into its core, causing a rain of sparks. The Angel seemed to howl, before trying to strangle the EVA with its whips.

Shinji felt that it tried to strangle him, but he ignored it as best as he could, shoving the knife deeper into the core, more sparks raining down on him while he only had seconds of energy left to spare.

Shamshel felt pain...so much pain. In horror she realised that the fight was lost for her, her core was breaking down with the knife so deeply lodged into it. She would never see her father. **_No...NO! It can't end this way! Defeated by this monster! _**Right then, her core broke.

**_Brothers...Sisters..Father! Noooooooooooo... _**Then, darkness claimed her.

The entry plug was dark, with all energy spent. He had destroyed the core at the last second. Shinji whimpered, still trying to get over the phantom pains of the battle. Toji and Kensuke looked at him in a mixture of pity and astoundment . They had witnessed first hand how hard it had been for Shinji. Finally, Toji asked "Man..are...are you all right?"

"D-don't worry. It is phantom pain... Whatever the EVA feels, I feel too," Shinji groaned. "It felt like my hands were burnt to a crisp and I was nearly strangled to death."

Toji was still angry at him for accidently injuring his sister, but after this... Witnessing how Shinji was nearly killed by pain that wasn't his own made Toji giving Shinji some respect. "Oh shit. Man...Shinji, I hadn't known. You must hate me now."

"No... I'm not angry at you, you were in pain, too. But maybe I... can meet your sister and apologize in person to her for accidently hurting her?" Shinji offered.

"If she forgives you...then I will make my peace with you, too, all right?" he offered to Shinji, who accepted with a nod.

Kensuke smiled, maybe Shinji and Toji would start to get by better with time. But he still would try to get into an EVA all by himself, the pain was a fair price for it. Then he realized something. "Uh...Shinji. What do you think they will do to Toji and me? I mean, we were not in the shelter and we tricked Hikari."

And the mention of that, especially Hikari, Toji went as pale as a sheet. "We are in trouble..."

* * *

_...two hours later..._

Toji and Kensuke had thought up to now that being called into the principal's office was the worst thing that could happen to them, but now they were proven wrong. As soon as the plug had been opened, all three of them had been brought to the geofront, into a conference room, where Captain Katsuragi had waited for them. She had told Shinji that he would get his share later, before chewing out the two of them for being so stupid. It had been scary and humiliating, and when she was done with them, they had been quite deflated. And both of them didn't even want to face Hikari the next day. They had an idea how angry she would be with them for tricking her.

But when they left the room, they saw that the day was getting worse. They swallowed hard when they saw their fathers waiting for them. Kensuke's father worked in the administration of NERV and looked especially angry. Toji's father, a man in the construction business, had no desire to have another of his children injured, and wanted to make his point clear. Both fathers dragged their respective son away by the ear, ignoring the yelps of protest.

Misato meanwhile concentrated on Shinji. "What was the idea of first letting these two into your plug, and then ignoring my direct order and attacking the Angel head-on?" she asked Shinji directly in a no-nonsense voice. "Well...?"

"Would you have preferd it that I killed them by accidently squishing them like bugs with my EVA? I thought my job is to protect people, not endanger them. I saw no other way to get them to safety with the Angel near," Shinji answered honestly. After getting some lectures like this at his old school, he knew that the truth was best in such situations.

Misato stopped when she realised that if Shinji would have hesitated any longer, she would have ordered him to do so as well. "Ok, I will drop that. But tell this Ritsuko after we are done, mister. And now tell me: why did you disobey my direct orders and instead decided to play the macho, risking your life and Unit-01 in the process? And you also undermined my authority with that reckless move!"

"Look, I defeated that thing, right?"

"This is not the point! While it did the job, it was nonetheless foolish. And you made me look like a fool in front of everyone on the bridge," Misato hissed, losing her patience.

"Misato...I saw an opening, and I wanted to kill it before it could hurt anyone. This has nothing to do with me proving something, I only wanted to save everyone. And I'm sorry that I made you look bad, that wasn't my intention," Shinji confessed.

Misato shook sadly her head, her anger having exhausted itself by now. "Shinji...Your devotion to save everyone in honor, but what about yourself? Do you feel that worthless?"

"No, of course not!" Shinji finally snapped. "Of course I was scared to die. I was horribly scared by that thought. I want to live. ...But... I was told that this is a war. While I value my life...wouldn't it be right to risk it in a gamble when I can possibly save many others?"

Misato realised with sadness that railroading him into this had obviously brought him to this conclusion. "Shinji...you can't be simply replaced. While your intentions might be noble, please think of yourself as well." Looking at him, she added. "And from now on, tell me if you make a change of plans while in battle, or may all gods help you protecting you from my wrath!"

Shinji felt that he had gotten off lightly in respect to what had happened. "All right... I understand. No more unanounced change of plans...only in total emergencies."

"Ok, and now that I'm through with chewing you out... While I'm unhappy that you did all these things, still thank you for saving us again. Now better shower and change, the dried LCL already starts to smell..."

Both of them left.

Rei moved out of her hiding spot, having listened to all of it. She had no idea why she had done so, ignoring the fact that it was simply curiosity. Shinji's actions by offering aid to his friends even if it endangered him in battle were strange for her, but fitted into the picture of kindness she had of him so far. And he wanted to help all people but still was scared to die as well. Rei had problems to understand his motivations.

Hopefully the Commander would be back in some days. He was the only one she could ask about such things. But chances were, that he would tell her to ignore it as it wasn't linked to her purpose. That meant she wouldn't get any answers.

Leaving it for now until another chance for observation presented itself, she made her way home.

* * *

_...the next day at school, lunch break..._

"You see it is really quiet up here, this is why we like it up here. But man, I really hope I won't have a day like yesterday again. And I try to remove Hikari from my brain for now..." Toji shuddered, while he, Kensuke and Shinji eat their lunch on the roof platform overlooking Tokyo-3. The place was best to avoid their class-mates, as they had all witnessed what had happened this morning.

Hikari Horaki had literally put Toji and Kensuke through the verbal meat grinder, telling them how disappointed she was of them, scolding them for risking their lives and she was angry that they had tricked her in order to leave the shelter. And that dressing down had happened in front of the entire class! After that she had given the two boys the cold shoulder, saying that they shouldn't expect any help or kindness from her over the next days.

"Thankfully it is Friday, so Hikari has the weekend to cool off. But my father was almost worse. I've never seen him this angry before. I'm under curfew for a week, with my sister watching over me to make sure I stay home," Toji continued. "At least I'm not alone at home now that she is out of the hospital. They said that her leg injuries can heal at home."

"I guess I got a little better off. My father was angry, especially since he works at NERV. But he told me that he doesn't want to see me over the weekend, since he needs to cool off as well. So I've planned something," Kensuke told them. "Hey Shinji, what happened to you? Misato seemed pretty angry yesterday."

Swallowing his last bite, Shinji thought for some seconds. "She was angry that I made her look like a fool by ignoring her orders. That, and she was disappointed that I risked my life so carelessly when I had alternatives." Shinji looked thoughtful over Tokyo-3. "I actually hadn't really a chance to think about all of this. There had been lots of training, the housework, and afterwards I was so tired I fell fast asleep. What would I give for some quiet time to think..."

"Hey, why not come with me on my little camping trip over the weekend? I know some quite place in the hills above Tokyo-3. I always do my wargames up there. And it is more fun with someone as company," Kensuke offered.

"You barely know me, yet you invite me?" Shinji asked

"Yeah. You seem all right to me. So, are you in? Besides camping I plan to do some fun wargames," Kensuke asked.

"Why not? I still have my old camping gear. But what about Misato?" Shinji asked

"It would be smart to at least leave Misato a note. I've once seen the gorillas from NERV security, I have no desire to meet them again," Kensuke remembered. The memory of the black-cald men with sunglasses had been quite fightening.

"Couldn't hurt. But I won't tell her otherwise. Otherwise she will forbid me coming with you," Shinji decided.

"Man, I envy you two. I would give almost everything to get out of the house now. I need lots of movement, and always sitting around makes me jumpy," Toji commented.

They heared the bell announcing that lunch break was nearly over. "Oh, yipeee...three more hours of boring lectures from old fossils and Hikari giving us the cold shoulder when she doesn't glare at us," Toji mock cheered, not looking forward to that. "But before you go home..." he looked to Shinji "you come with me. We will see my sister, and should she forgive you, then you are off the hook."

* * *

_...Misato's apartment, next morning..._

Misato listlessly brushed her teeth. She HATED working morning shift at the weekend. Well, at least Shinji would make her breakfast. Thinking of him she noticed how quiet the apartment was, normally she would by now hear him being awake and working in the kitchen.

_Strange... _she wondered.

Leaving the bathroom, she saw that the kitchen was cold. No Shinji. She knocked on the door to his room. "Shinji?" No answer. "Shinji, why aren't you up yet? You know Ritsuko wants to see you today." Still no reply. Pulling the door open, she saw that nothing was amiss with his room, everything at its place. The bed was made, but no Shinji.

"Where is he?" she wondered. Walking back into the kitchen to make herself a strong coffee, (after being unable to drink alcohol that was the best way to get awake) she noticed a letter on the table. Picking it up, she read it.

_Dear Misato,_

_First and foremost: I HAVE NOT RUN AWAY! I simply needed some quiet time to think, so I have went with a friend to camp in the hills around Tokyo-3 over the weekend. I WILL come back Sunday evening, so DON'T send security after me. After all the things you had said to me after the batte, I need to get my mind clear. In case you really need to find me or if there is an emergency, the number below connects to my new cell phone._

_-Shinji_

_P.S.: I hope Dr. Akagi won't be too angry that I will miss the training she planned for me over the weekend._

Putting it down, Misato had no idea what to think of that. She was tempted to send security after Shinji anyway. But she knew better. He was responsible enough to stay to his word and return on Sunday evening. No, she was troubled about two other things.

She winced when she remembered that it meant two days of instant food. After being spoiled by Shinji's cooking, going back to instant stuff was hard for her. And how would Ritsuko react to that? Because it was she who had to give her the news.

* * *

_...later, inside NERV..._

Ritsuko was surprisingly calm after she got the news. Misato had told her about the whole thing while she was busy with scanning Rei's injuries. She had listened until Misato was done, before she made her comment. "Looks like I have to re-schedule the tests and training regime."

"This is all you have to say, aren't you annoyed about it?" Misato asked her, raising an eyebrow.

"Don't get me wrong, I am annoyed. And quite angry at him for doing that without warning. But shouting or hitting something would be a waste of energy. When he is back, I will put him through the third degree in training, this is more productive," she explained her calm reaction.

Misato should have known it. This was typically Ritsuko's reaction to many things. She tried to stay calm and and tried to solve them rationally. But that didn't mean that she could be tempramental, only it would instead of a scream of anger manifest itself in things like an almost sadistic training plan. It made Misato wonder where Ritsuko took all that energy to stay so calm.

"After thinking about it...I guess he is right. In all the hectic of the last weeks, he really had no time to simply sit back and let this whole thing go through his mind. -sigh- At least I don't have to report that to Commander Ikari since he will only return on Monday. It wouldn't have ended without trouble," Misato mused, remembering how busy Shinji was since starting as a pilot. "And it is not that he is unreachable, but I don't dare to take that away from him... while he can still enjoy such things."

"Oh...you sound like you start to act like a mother hen. Feel the biological clock ticking?" Ritsuko teased her, not looking up from her screen.

"What do you mean with that?" Misato growled.

Ritsuko did as if nothing was amiss. "Now that you art nearing 30, you suddenly develop parental instincts. Good thing that I'm married with my work. Have I mentioned that you look like a teenager when you are so riled up?"

Misato snorted, Ritsuko's teasing always got to her. "I'm as much a mother hen as you are a natural blonde!" She then left the room.

Ritsuko looked after her. _She still goes off at the fact that I dye my hair blond? Misato, Misato, Misato... not everyone can have a unusual hair color as you have... _She then returned to the task at hand. According to all the data, Rei would get a clean bill of health in a week. And in three weeks, they could start the reactivation of Unit-00.

* * *

_...the hills around Tokyo-3, evening..._

"Man, I'm still glad that your sister did this puppy-dog eyes act to convince your father to let you go," Kensuke commented to Toji, while the three of them sat around the camp fire, waiting for their dinner to be ready.

When they had visited Toji's sister yesterday, they had been really surprised that she not only forgave Shinji, but also berated Toji for hitting him. She had said that the EVA had rescued her from the big, scary monster. Shinji had instantly found a liking to Kasumi, and she had asked him if he instead could be her brother's friend. It was then when Shinji had said that he and Kensuke wanted to go camping over the weekend to also get each other better known, but that Toji couldn't come because of his father fobidding him to leave the house. Kasumi had said to leave that to her. 10 minutes of teary puppy-eyes had brought down Mr. Suzuhara's defenses, and he had lifted the curfew on his son. And so Toji was with them.

They had been exhausted yesterday night after marching to their camp site. And during the day they had much fun with a wargame. While Kensuke's obsession with these things was still strange, they had enjoyed it. But now, sitting around the camp fire, now was the time to talk and get each other better known.

"You know guys, I know you are all right, but I still don't know much about you two. And you don't know much about me. How about telling a little about yourselves?" Shinji offered, while watching the fire.

"Sure, why not? You are a great guy to have around. Many simply treat me like a dumb jock and Kensuke like the typical nerd," Toji offered, poking with a stick in the fire. "I live with my dad and my baby sister. My mom died when I was ten...cancer. You already met Kasumi. My dad is busy in the construction business. As much as he enjoys making so much money because of the recent destruction, it gives him less time with us... To be honest, I don't have many friends beside Kensuke and you. The other boys treat me either like a muscle-packed idiot or simply avoid me like the plague because I'm strong. And the girls..." Toji blushed.

"What about the girls?" Shinji asked.

"They...always giggle around me and look at me like...I don't know. The only one who treats me normal is Hikari. I only hope she will forgive me in time," Toji finally answered. "Your turn, Kensuke."

"Well, you already know of my hobbies. I live alone with my father, who works in the administration of NERV. My mother is also gone...car accident. You can already guess why boys and girls alike avoid me...for them I'm the egghead-nerd. Other than that, there isn't much about me to talk about... Besides Toji, you are my only friend at the school," Kensuke told him. "And you, Shinji?"

"Well...my mother died as well, I was three years old when it happened," Shinji said, touching the locket. "Eh...has everyone in the class lost their mother? After listening to you two..."

"No, only we three. The others don't fit into that sheme. We know for sure that for example Hikari's mother is very alive," Kensuke said with a grin, then laughed. "I sold many pictures of THAT incident. Pity on the poor guy who tried to make a move on Hikari at the day of the previous parent-teacher meeting. Hikari's mom really went rough on him."

"Guess Hikari got that from her mom, eh?" Shinji added with a smile. "Well, back to me. My father left me a week after her death, telling me that he had no further use for me and that he couldn't stand seeing me."

"He said this to you while you were three? What a scumbag!" Toji cursed.

"I call him Darth Asshole. Well, my uncle needed years to get me out of that hole I was in. And then, a little over two weeks ago, my old man says he has a use for me. You know the attack where Toji's sister was hurt? He told me, either pilot, or Rei would die doing so because of her injuries. And now I'm piloting...but I had no time to think about all of this."

"You must really hate you old man..." Toji whistled in awe. "And why do you pilot now?"

"That's what I try to find out for myself. At first it was because I was the only one who can do the job. But now I wonder mayself why I do it."

"Man, I wonder if there are more EVAs?" Kensuke asked.

"Misato told me, that there is Unit-02 but that one at the moment is stored in Europe."

"Man, can you convince Misato that I can pilot it?" Kesuke asked, hopeful.

"Forget it, she also said it has a pliot for years now. A girl named Asuka." Kensuke deflated. "And what I clearly know is that piloting just for fame or for kicks is disgusting. We are responsible for lives," Shinji added. "So if you only want to pilot to feed your ego, forget it."

Toji looked at the pot. "Hey guys! Dinner is ready!"

Getting their bowls, the three boys dug in, enjoying the dinner while listening to the sounds of nature around them.

Later that night, Shinji had to much to think about and was unable to fall asleep. He already knew, he would always be scared to die, but that was natural. Never again should he carelessly risk his life in a reckless move.

His thought about his motivations for hours, and finally, he found his answer.

* * *

_...Misato's apartment, Sunday evening..._

Misato wondered how she had managed to live for years on instant stuff and fast food. She really couldn't wait for Shinji to come back. After living with him for two weeks, the apartment seemed so empty without him. She had gotten so used to having him around in the two weeks he was there, that it now felt odd that he wasn't there.

Finally she heared the apartment door slid open.

Shinji walked in, dropping his backpack. "I told you, I will be back, Misato," Shinji greeted her. Looking around he noticed that the apartment was still clean. He knew the only exception would be her room, and he wouldn't even dare to set a foot into that forbidden territory.

Misato put down her soda (she still had problems getting used to the taste of it). "Was it fun? Have you found what you were looking for?" she asked him.

Shinji sat down across her. "It was fun. I made two new friends, and while they have their little quirks, they are all right. And I had time to think about the whole thing with NERV, EVA and me going into battle." Misato noticed that Shinji's carelessness went away when talking about something so serious. "Misato...first let me tell you that I will continue to pilot EVA. Not only because I'm the only one who can do it, but mostly because I feel that I HAVE to do it, despite the pain and injury it can bring me. Otherwise people would suffer and die. I admit it, I'm scared to die, should I lose that fear, then I'm no longer suitable to pilot. And after what you told me, I'm not so stupid to again needlessly risk my life in a gamble... I learned my lesson. As you said, I'm for now mankind's only hope..."

Misato had a little trouble recognising Shinji. It seemed not that he was fully aware how much relied on him, he had matured in days. "You are so young, and yet you have already so much responsibility..."

Shinji's mood suddenly brightened up. "But I have friends who help and understand me. Toji, Kensuke...and you, Misato. As long as I'm not alone, it won't eat me up. And I won't let it make me like my old man...never."

Shinji suddenly felt crushed against Misato, her breasts again threatening to suffocate him. "Oh, Shinji!" Misato squeaked in relief. She was so relieved that Shinji still was his old self, that he wouldn't let all this crush him.

"Misato...I...cant breathe..."

"Oooops!" Letting go of him, Misato saw that Shinji was an interesting shade of red. "That can't be from..oh!" she giggled, when realising where his face had been.

"You embarrass me..." Shinji groaned, his face still beet-red.

* * *

_...NERV, Monday..._

Gendo and Fuyutsuki watched the trapped Unit-00, which up to the hip was still incased in bakellite. In three weeks, they would attempt reactivation. It had come as shock, the up to now stable and peaceful Unit-00 had suddenly run amok, attacking the command stand before ejecting the entry plug with so much force that it had seriously injured Rei.

Both men had stayed silent about that incident, until now.

"You know why this happened, Gendo. Unit-00 wanted to destroy you specifically. And when that failed, it wanted to at least do this to Rei. It wanted revenge," Fuyutsuki reminded his boss.

"Yes. It seems that I have underestimated the will. But that doesn't matter, the new inner restraints will hold this time," Gendo answered, cold.

"I carry the burden of this knowledge for years now. Should Dr. Akagi ever learn what you have done, she will never want to work with us again," Fuyutsuki cautioned Gendo.

Gendo pushed up his glasses, seemingly unimpressed by that possible danger. "She won't. And even if she did, she is, like you professor, already too deep in it to jump ship."

"You know that this is a gamble. It can also go wrong and burn our hands."

"As always professor, I have extra cards up my sleeve. So don't worry yourself over it. Is Unit-00 still scheduled to reactivate in three weeks?" Gendo then asked while watching the unmoving giant.

"Yes...Dr. Akagi has already made preperations for the removal of the bakellite. Everything goes according to plan, mostly. The arrival of the fourth Angel made things a little more difficult, but nothing to worry about," the Vice-Commander explained.

Gendo turned around. "Good. Then let's go. The old men want a rapport from me about the last battle."

Both men left the half-destroyed, dark command stand.

From the shadows, someone appeared. Ritsuko had originally wanted to tell the commander that they made progress with the examination of the corpse of the fourth Angel. But when she had heared the two men talk, she had waited in the shadows. Despite her surprise, she had stayed silent.

Ritsuko looked up the inactive Unit-00. She remembered when the machine had run amok. It had nearly killed the Commander. But as soon as the window had been broken and she had cried to him to get to safety, the EVA had suddenly stopped the attack, and instead had tried to kill Rei. She could have sworn, that for a second the huge eye of the EVA had stared at her before turning away from the viewport and ejecting the plug.

_The way they talked about it, they must have done something with Unit-00 years ago. But what? And what is the connection to me? _Ritsuko wondered, again looking up the orange, one-eyed giant.

Unit-00 stayed silent, not giving any answers.

"This is useless..." Leaving the cage, she decided that she would use the phone to inform the Commander of their progress. But what she had heared didn't leave her mind. This mystery was puzzling her to no end.

_**to be continued...**_

_**Next Episode:**_

_**"Boys and Girls"**_


	5. Boys and Girls

I will say these things in advance: I have absolutely no rights at NGE, but you should have already known that.

The story itself is basically a re-telling of the original storyline, but twisted into my way. While at the beginning there seem to be only few divigances, it will become more with each episode. The people, their motivations and the backgrounds are while holding true to the basic layout, changed at my imagination in many details, so canon-purists now are allowed to flame me.

NOTE: I hate both, the ending of the TV series, and how End of Evangelion turned out. So don't expect any of those outcomes.

This will be be Shinji/Rei. And more differences will become obvious here. In this one, Asuka will be seen for the first time.

For all the work I put into this, I would like to get reviews. I will always try to respond to every review I get.

* * *

**Chapter 4: Boys and Girls**

_...Berlin, Tuesday..._

The early evening sun bathed the city of Berlin, capital of Germany and one of the most important cities in Europe, into a bright, orange light. The city hadn't changed much, apart from the closing of the gaps in the inner city in the years after re-unification. Even Second Impact hadn't made a impression on it. It had been a cruel joke that Second Impact had hit the ones hardest who were already poor anyway. Africa, Asia and South America had been gravely hit, Australia massively devastated. North America and Europe on the other hand had been mostly out of the way of the tidal waves and shock waves that had caused so much death and destruction.

A really cruel joke, indeed.

The nation of Germany had come out of the desaster virtually unscratched, having only to shoulder some of the changes in the ecosystem. Sure, the sea level had risen over a meter, but since the coasts on the east were higher and on the west they had been reinforced for decades already, the damage had been only very maginal. To put it bluntly, while other nations had gone through hell...life had simply went on in Europe with only few alterations in the peoples lives.

On the roof terrace of the Café Kranzler, a red-haired girl clad in jeans and a t-shirt sat at one of the tables, overlooking the Kurfürstendamm, one of the main shopping roads and a famous boulevard. The bell of the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church announced that it was 18:00, surrounded by the sound of the evening rush. Despite the time, she had no need to dress warmer. Second Impact had literally erased seasons, it was now always summer, all trees having become evergreens. However, recently prognosis were made that the seasons would return soon. She herself had never witnessed autum and winter in her life.

That girl was Asuka Langely Soryu, Second Child and Pilot of EVA-02. What others thought to be her hair clips were her neural reciptors, which she was always wearing proudly to show her status as the pilot of an EVA (even if most didn't even know what her head ornament actually meant).

At the moment she was busy with eating her bowl of vanillia ice cream with a spoon while using her cell phone at the same time to speak with Misato in Tokyo-3. No one else was there to listen in, and the line was secure. Factoring in the time differential between Europe and Japan and Misato's sleeping habits, she had her former superior on the line, talking with her about the latest events in Tokyo-3 she had been told of.

"Wirklich, Misato? Ich hab' die Aufnahmen der letzten zwei Kämpfe gesehen. Was für eine Flasche habt ihr euch da denn angelacht? Vor allem daß er diese beiden Holzköpfe hereingelassen hat...ein Wunder daß er gewonnen hat,"_ (Really, Misato? I've seen the footage of the last two battles. Where did you get this loser? And letting these two idiots in...a wonder that he won at all.) _she ranted. She had been less than impressed with the Third Child's performance, whoever he was.

"Nun, anders als du hat er kein jahrelanges Training absolviert. Dafür sind seine Leistungen dann doch ziemlich gut," _(Well, other than you, he hadn't years of training. Remembering that, his performance wasn't all that bad.)_ Misato reminded Asuka.

Swallowing another spoon full of ice cream, Asuka rolled her eyes, knowing very well that Misato couldn't see it. "Vergiß es einfach. Ich werde ihn wohl eh' nie treffen, seit über einem Monat gammel ich hier nun schon rum, ohne daß entschieden wird was mit mir nun passiert." _(Forget it. I won't meet him anyway. For over a month now I'm already sitting on my ass and they can't decide what to do with me.)_

"Sei dir mal nicht so sicher. Erst gestern habe ich die Benachrichtigung bekommen, daß der Transfer von dir und EVA-02 Grünes Licht erhalten hat," _(Don't be so sure. Just yesterday I got the notification that the tranfer of you and EVA-02 got the green light,) _Misato told her.

That surprised Asuka so much, that she dropped the spoon into the ice cream. "Wirklich? Nach Tokio-3? When?" _(Really? To Tokyo-3? When?)_ she asked.

"In zwei Wochen wird Einheit-02 nach Wilhelmshaven gebracht und dort verschifft werden. Und du mit ihr. Die NATO-Flotte begleitet euch bis zum Panamakanal, im Pazifk übernimmt die UN-Flotte, mit Zwischenstopp in San Angels (1) bevor es nach Japan geht. Wenn alles gut geht, bist du in 6 Wochen in Tokio-3." _(In two weeks, Unit-02 will be shipped in Wilhelmshaven. And you with it. The NATO fleet will accompany it to the Panama channel. In the Pacific Ocean, the UN fleet wil ltake over, with a stop in San Angeles before moving to Japan. If everything goes all right, you will be in Tokyo-3 in 6 weeks from now.) _

Asuka was in good spirits. Finally she could show of that SHE was the best there is and they would forget this loser they had now! All the world would see thst she was the number one! "Wow! Ja! JA!" _(Wow! Yes! YES!) _In her joy she slammed her fist on the table. She didn't watch out however, and her hitting the table made the bowl flip over, landing in her lap with a wet thud.

**-splotsh-**

"IIIIIIIH! KALT!" she squeaked when she realised a second later what just had happened, the coldness biting at this sensitive place.

"Asuka?" Asuka clenched her teeth together while telling Misato of her little mishap. Hearing laughter on the other end, Asuka became angry. **"Das ist nicht witzig, Misato!" **_**(That's not funny, Misato!) **_she screaming into the phone, while feeling wet and cold between her legs.

* * *

_...at the same time in Tokyo-3..._

Shinji was putting the breakfast on the table while listening to Misato speaking with someone on the phone. He had understood the name of the Second Child, but after that he felt totally lost. Misato's voice was so different when speaking in a different language. Suddenly he heared her laugh, as if a sort of mishap had happened to someone else.

Finally Misato put the phone away at sat down at the table for breakfast. "What was that about? I didn't understand a word. Since when can you speak German?" he asked her, curios.

"Oh, I was in Germany to watch over the Second Child for over one and a half year. I learned it during that time. I'm not perfect but it is good enough. And you are a little too curios for your own good..." seeing him flinch, she dropped the hard stare. "Ok, I told her that they will ship Unit-02. You can expect her to arrive here in roughly 6 weeks." She told herself to better stay silent about Asuka's comments over his battle performance.

"This is good, right? When we have two EVA's for battle, then things can be much easier."

"It can get only better. Maybe we even will have three, when Rei passes the activation at the end of the month," she said, swallowing the black coffee to get the cobwebs out of her head. "I hate early shift."

"I do this every day and don't complain. You as the adult should be the role model in the morning, not the coffe-dependent zombie I often see," Shinji told her with a grin.

Misato nearly choked on her toast with egg. "Watch it! Or I will tell Ritsuko that you want extra hours!"

Shinji backed away at once. After the training he had recieved from Dr. Akagi yesterday as result for staying away over the weekend, he had no desire to repeat the experience soon. "Uh...I think I will leave for school a little early today."

"You are really intimidated a little too easy with the right pressure..."

Sitting back down, Misato's smirk revealed to him that she was joking. "Please don't do this again. After round number one yesterday, I never want to go through this again."

"Ok... Oh, before I forget. Come to the battle site after school, Ritsuko wants to show us what she has gathered so far from the corpse of the Angel," Misato reminded him.

"What does she expect to find anyway? Even with all that stuff to isolate it, the smell of its rotting flesh travels as far as up to the school. We don't dare risking to open the windows in fear that the smell could travel inside."

"Don't ask...Half of the time I don't understand her science gibberish, and I know her for years. Maybe they want to get out what makes the Angels tick?" Misato returned, drink the last of her coffee. "Ahhh, much better. I never knew the wonders black coffee can do."

"Better than getting drunk at the morning."

Misato bit back a comment. She still had a hard time to get used to being sober 24/7. Caffeine did the opposite of what alcohol had done to her, it made her alert instead of relaxed. But she knew had meant only well with it, so she decided to stay quiet about it.

* * *

_...later that day..._

Shinji had to force himself to beathe through his mouth. The smell of rotting Angel was so strong that he felt that breathing through his nose was a invitation for throwing up. The huge corpse was already starting to rot away at an incredible rate, all tries to isolate it from the burning sun hadn't stopped this disgusting process.

The smell was much worse than he had first thought.

"Fascinating to see the enemy so close up, but I could have lived without this smell. Yuck, this smells like a public restroom, only ten times worse and stronger," Shinji commented to Misato, holding his nose shut.

"I guess this is why Ritsu and her team are all wearing masks." Misato looked as disgusted by the smell as he was. Looking up to Ritsuko, she watched her talking with some of the workers on a platform at the side of the Angel corpse, taking samples. "How does it look?" she asked her.

"Very good. With exception of the core, this a totally intact speciem. Perfect for analysis," Ritsuko replied, looking quite pleased.

"When can we expect first results?"

Ten minutes later the computers in the side room beeped in defeat, showing the number 601 on the screen.

"601?" Misato asked.

Ritsuko sighed. She hated it when this result came up. "Our standard code for 'we can't analyze it'. In blunt words: No idea what it is made of exactly. The only thing we now know is, that the matter the Angels consist of is both, like particles and a waveform. Something like frozen light..." she told them before downing a strong coffee. She felt that it wouldn't be the last one today.

"Well, at least you found the energy source of that thing," Misato offered.

"Yes, the mysterious S2 engine. But we still have no idea how that thing exactly works. It's like trying to get out how a combustion engine works during the middle ages. So we are removing the core for further analysis in the NERV base in the U.S.," Ritsuko admitted.

"So we have a huge, stinking corpse that doesn't give us any answers?" Shinji asked.

Dr. Akagi sighed. "It answers some things...but gives new questions as well. The wave pattern, which basically is the Angel's DNA, is to 99,89 percent like the human DNA pattern."

"Scary, if you think about it, that these monsters are supposed to be closer to us than apes," Misato commented.

"Yes, reminds us that we still are in totally unknown territory."

Shinji didn't listen anymore. Instead something else had caught his attention. Watching his father and the Vice-Commander inspecting the cut-out core of the Angel, he saw that his father had removed his gloves, revealing nasty burn marks on his palms. "Does any of you two know why my old man got burn marks on his palms?" he asked.

"He recieved them during the test where Rei was injured. He opened the side hatch of the plug, while it was still hot, to get her out of it. Since then he wears gloves to cover the scars," Ritsuko told him. She herself tried to forget the incident, as it had made her jealous to watch Gendo caring so much for Rei.

"I doubt he did it because of the goodness of his heart. After all what I know now, he is the reason why she has retreated so much into her shell," Shinji snorted.

_If you only would know what was all done to her... _Ritsuko had no love for the First Child, not as long as the Commander favored her. She knew her jeaously was irrational, but she still felt placed back. But that didn't mean that she wasn't repulsed by Gendo's ideas how to form Rei's mind.

She had been once young, too, and Shinji's continued interest in Rei, even if it was for now only of concern, could easily develop in something more. And Rei's strange interest in Shinji, she of course had been notfied to Rei listing in on Misato and Shinji, was proof that there still was life in the seemingly cold First Child. She knew she could be wrong, and it was only a hunch...but wouldn't it be a pity if Gendo's little doll suddenly gets things on her mind that would put a wedge between her and him? And she wouldn't even need to feel guilty, because the First and Third Child could only gain from it.

Sure, she wouldn't be able to do much. But a little nudge in the right direction, and she wouldn't have to share Gendo. If only she knew what the hell the secret of Unit-00 was. It was still on her mind.

* * *

_...next week Monday, sports field..._

Some of the boys watched the other class in their basketball match. Not so Shinji, but he was not alone as most of the boys saw something very interesting, namly the bathing girls. Rei had been declared healthy yesterday, and this was the first day he saw her without any injury. Looking up to the pool on the ground level above the sports field, she sat there, in her bathing suit, waiting for her next task, simply staring holes into the air. She was totally unlike the other girls, who were enjoying themselves on this hot day.

"Hey Shinji, enjoying looking at Ayanami?" Toji smarted when noticing his friend watching the blue-haired girl.

"Yeah, what do you enjoy most on her? You have to admit her assets are great!" Kensuke added.

Shinji really wondered if these two thought about anything else than a girl's 'parts'. While good-hearted, they were also somewhat perverted. "Oh, lay off, guys! It's nothing like that. I only wonder why she is so quiet. She looks so lonely."

That sobered up his two friends. "Yeah. She was always like this since she started here almost a year ago. She really has no friends, everyone thinks she is as cold as a ice block," Toji admitted. He himself had given up after only a day to ever get through to this strange girl.

"Knowing that your old man raised her, it's no wonder. After what you told us about him, I can guess why she is that way. Man, you can be glad he didn't raise you..." Kensuke added to this, shuddering when imagining Shinji with Rei's mannerisms.

Shinji looked again up to Rei. And suddenly she turned her head, looking him directly into the eyes. This lasted for several, long seconds, before their teacher blew his whistle, ordering them on the running track.

Rei looked after the reatreating Shinji. She found it strange that Pilot Ikari was watching her. Why was he doing that? Going by memory, she had noticed him looking at her quite often, when he thought she wouldn't notice. No one had ever given her so much attention outside of her purpose. Her person was irrelevant. Coming to a decision, she would ask the Commander at the next possible time about it. Maybe he could help her.

_Shinji Ikari...Why your interest? _Rei wondered.

"You know guys, it is strange. We are both pilots, yet I know next to nothing about her..." Shinji told his friends while they ran a lap.

"Maybe you shoulk try to talk with her. As a fellow pilot, you maybe have a better chance to get through to her," Kensuke offered his wisdom. "Maybe she was told not to talk to anyone outside to keep things secret?"

"That's the most stupid thing I've ever heared," Toji snorted, making his opinion about Kensuke's reasoning for Rei's quietness clear.

_Yes...everyone told me that she always was like this. What had my old man done to make her like that? No, I don't even want to imagine that... _Shinji thought, while running the next lap.

* * *

_...afternoon, EVA-cages..._

Shinji was busy inside Unit-01. They said that a test inside the actual unit would give the most precise results while at the same time giving him a feel for the Unit. Bored, he looked over to the now freed Unit-00. The orange EVA was without a power supply, and the checks would still take almost two weeks before a new test would be started. Zooming in on the entry plug, he saw Rei checking several panels on it.

Shinji swallowed, Rei's plugsuit was really revealing, the bridge crew hadn't joked about that. Her bust and her butt were pronounced on it, the latter in already very embarrassing detail. Shinji thanked all goodness that the male suit was far more modest.

_Dr. Akagi must have some really strange ideas, since it is her who observes the suit designs..._ Shinji thought, wondering about the doctor's preferences. He stopped his musings when he saw his father approaching Rei, who stopped her work to adress him. _Well, that is interesting... _Turning up the sound, he listened in.

"Rei, is everything all right?" the Commander asked her.

"Yes, Commander. I am fully healed. However, I am confused and have a question," Rei answered, hoping that he could answer her questions. She had great confidence in him.

"Which is?" Gendo wondered what she could want to ask him.

"I noticed Pilot Ikari watching me a number of times. Also he had helped me without it having a reason. I need to know, why," Rei explained to him.

"Don't concern yourself with that. This simple curiosity of his will soon ebb away. Concentrating on the important tasks is what you have to do," the Commander told her dryly, feeling annoyed that she would bother him with something like that.

"Understood," Rei simply said. But she now still had no answers.

Shinji would have loved to use the EVA to crush his old man, but he restrained himself. If that was how he always treated Rei, it was no wonder that she had become so distant and retreated into herself. He let out a sigh, ignoring that his comm was open. "If I could just find the right time to speak with her..."

A moment later, he heared a beep. "Good job. Your synch-ratio has developed well. The battle has really boosted it. It stabilised at 50,4 percent. You again make us wonder how you do it."

"Uh, thank you, Dr. Akagi," Shinji answered, hoping that his comm hadn't been open.

"You can get out now. And don't forget that we are just handing out the new generations of NERV-cards. Yours will be in your locker, your old one will expire this evening so destroy it. And remind Misato that I will be there at 7," Ritsuko reminded him.

Looking at the EVA, Ritsuko smirked a little when remembering Shinji's slip-up. And he obviously had no clue that the EVA's inner display was also shown on her screen in the control room. She had wondered all week how she could give him a little help, and she now knew when feeling what she had in her pocket.

* * *

_...Gendo's office..._

"Something seems to be off," Fuyutsuki commented while he and Gendo were deep into a game of Go during the lull. Both of them played it to sharpen their tactical skills. "You normally play better. Meaning that something is on your mind."

"The First Child was rather talkative. She was confused about the attention the Third Child gives her," Gendo stated, while analyzing the Go-board for his next move.

_Interesting, she hadn't asked about anything in that regard for years... _"Unusual for her." Fuyutsuki commented.

"I told her that she shouldn't bother with it. It's irrelevant anyway as it won't influence our plans," Gendo explained, making his move. "She is intelligent enough to follow this directive."

Fuyutsuki stayed silent about it. Better not speaking about it more than needed. And also, once Gendo was convinced that he was right, it was useless to question him. Seeing the sudden increase in his game strategy, he knew that Gendo had put the incident to the files. So he would let it rest.

* * *

_...next day, after school..._

Shinji thought about yesterday, while walking down the street beside the dirty apartment blocks at the edge of the city. Dr. Akagi was different in her free time. While she was mostly business while at NERV, she was somewhat different outside of it. She seemed more...relaxed. Of course Misato had teased him when Ritsuko had given him Rei's card, which she had forgotten to give her. He had looked at her photo, on which she looked, despite her neutral expression, sad in a way. Of course Misato had implied that he had a crush on Rei, which he had denied on the spot.

He had commented that she looked sad on the picture, and that she was alone all the time he saw her. Misato had no idea, while Ritsuko had said that while Rei was a nice girl, she had huge difficulties with life itself, whatever that meant. Rei hadn't been at school, no one knew, why, so he used the adress on the card to find Rei's apartment.

"Man, I don't want to walk around here at night..." Shinji thought alound while looking around.

That part of the city was a literal dump. The road was cracked, almost all the streetlights victims of vandalism. The apartment blocks, which sat in a uniform row on one side of the street, were in very poor condition. Doors broken open, graffitties everywhere, most of them obviously empty. Drunks and bums seemed to be the only occupants, trash littlering the ways. Obviously the city council had given up on this part of the city long ago, and only waited for a chance to demolish the whole city block. Even Tokyo-3 had its dity corner.

To say it short: it was a slum.

Finally he entered the right apartment block. Strangely enough, none of the shady figures wanted to be there. But that didn't mean that the house was in a better shape. The elevator sat crashed on the ground floor, all windows were broken, trash littered the building and the walls were stripped to bare concrete. The building looked ready to be condomned. Arriving at apartment 402, Rei's home, Shinji guessed that the doorbell would be useless, considering the condition of the whole building, so he knocked on the door.

After no response, he knocked again. "Anaynami? It is me, Shinji Ikari." Again, no response. After a minute, he tried to open the door. It wasn't even locked, the mail piling behind the mail slot in the door in a dirty pile. "Rei, are you home?" he called.

Walking in, he was shocked that her home was almost in a worse condition than the building it was in. It was littered with trash and dirty bandages, dark, dity, damp and looked all in all horrible. _How can someone so young as her be forced to live here? That is inhuman! _He could have sworn seeing a rat running to a hole in the wall after seeing him.

Looking around he wondered that a girl lived here at all. Now he understood Dr. Akagi's comment about Rei having difficulties with life. Looking around, he noticed a pair of his father's glasses on her nightstand. _Strange, what are these doing here? And why would he force her to live in such a hell-hole?_

"Why are you here?"

That was the voice of Rei from behind him! "Sorry that I came in, I..." Shinji stopped, and nearly choked when he had turned around, seeing Rei...all of Rei.

Holding a towel in her hand, it was obvious that she just came out of the shower, and now was there before him, in her birthday suit! Completely unfazed by her nudity. Shinji couldn't help but look at her, feeling a sudden testosterone push, nothing obscuring his view. The plugsuit really hadn't hidden much. Despite her really pale skin she was...very shaply, beautiful and well proportioned. Looking a little lower, Shinji saw the unrefutable proof that blue was indeed her natural hair color resting between her legs. Finally Shinji blushed heavily, feeling ashamed of invading her privacy like that, quickly turning away.

"Please don't be angry! I didn't want to invade your privacy!" he pleaded with her.

He heared Rei starting to dress, as if nothing was amiss with the situation. "Why do you apologize?" she asked him.

Shinji was dumbfolded for some seconds. Rei asked him what was wrong with this? "I walked in on you while you were totally naked!"

"And?"

"What and? Being naked is a very intimate thing. It is only suitable when the situation demands it or you are with VERY close friends you totally trust. It was wrong for me to see you like this," Shinji explained, hoping that Rei wouldn't see him as a pervert. But the image of her nudity had etched itself into his brain. And something below reacted to it, making his pants feel tight.

_Down boy! Down! _he mentally screamed, doing his best that his suddenly starting errection wouldn't become even more painful in his pants. But he couldn't help it, he was just a teenage boy. _No, I won't sink to that level!_

"I understand. You can look now. And again, why are you here?" Rei asked again.

Turning around, he was relieved to see that Rei was now dressed in a school uniform. "Dr. Akagi told me to give you your new card. Your old one expired yesterday." That said, he fished the card out of his pocket and handled it to her. "She said you have to destroy your old one."

"Is that all?" Rei asked. She didn't show it, but Shinji's reaction to her nudity, which didn't bother her herself, made her thinking. Was it bad to be naked with someone around while it was unfitting? And Pilot Ikari seemed to show strange signs after seeing her like that.

Shinji looked around. "How can you live here? This is horrible!"

"It has everything I need to exist," Rei answered, wondering where the problem was. She had everything she needed to survive, and the room had everything her first room had.

Shinji looked around again. He obviously had to spell it out. "Rei, this isn't the place to live for a fourteen years old girl. There are a lot of dangerous people around, the building is unsafe, and the hygienic situation here is catastrophic. You could get mugged, raped or killed. You could get injured, or sick because of...of this."

Rei blinked. "And the problem is?"

Shinji tried it another way. "Rei...how can you help fighting the Angels, when one of these things happens to you? A healthy surrounding will prevent all of these things from happening. I don't want that one of these things happens to you. What did my father think to force you to live in such a place?"

Rei's logic caught up with that. It made all sense. Living in better arrangements would undoubtly be better for her purpose. And she could again feel a warmth in her, when realizing that he was concerned about her. But that about the Commander stopped that warmth. "I will ask to be assigned to a different place. But why do you speak so negative about the Commander? Don't you have faith in his work?"

"Maybe in his work, but I despise him as a person!" Shinji declared.

**-slap-**

Shinji had no time to react before Rei slapped him hard on his face. He looked shocked to her. "Do not talk this way about the Commander. He has done much for me," she told him coldly.

Shinji's shock turned to anger. "Really! Then let me tell you what he did for me! He left me when I was just three years old after mother's death, telling me to the face that he can't stand my sight anymore! He ignored me for 11 years and treated me like dirt every time I met him at her grave!"

Rei was taken aback by this outburst. She hadn't known these things. "I..."

But Shinji wasn't done yet. "And what has he done for you? He literally crippled any kind of social life you could have had and forced you to live in this ruin!" Shinji panted for a moment, his anger exhausted, before he had to sit down, face in his hands. "Sorry...it is still so hard. It made it all come back up. I didn't want to yell at you. It only hurts so much... Please, please don't hate me for this."

Rei wasn't prepared for such a situation and had no idea what to do. After long minutes she finally said "I do not hate you. Your reasons for your personal dislike of the Commander are...valid." What she didn't say was, that her picture of the unfailable Commander Ikari had just recieved a dark spot. For her, that had been unthinkable minutes ago.

"Thank you...Rei." Shinji looked up, his eyes wet.

"You confuse me, Pilot Ikari," Rei finally admitted.

"Please call me Shinji. It is only fair since I call you Rei."

"Understood, Pil.. Shinji." Rei didn't know why, but using his first name felt...good.

"I think you are a good person at heart, Rei. But you are always so quiet..." Shinji stopped, when he heared his cell phone. He flipped it open. "Yes...all right... Until later." He looked sorry. "Sorry, but I have to go. Misato reminded me that I have to buy groceries. Maybe we can talk tomorrow at school?"

Rei managed a nod. Shinji said goodbye and left. Rei sat down on the bed. She had said in the last minutes more, than before in a week. It was so unusual for her, and she had no idea what had made her do it. It only created more questions within her. How should she react to this situation? After yesterday she knew that she couldn't ask the Commander. And Shinji was out of question, since he himself was the subject of her confusion.

Rei stared to the wall, totally unused to feeling emotion after such a long time. And she had no idea what to do. She only knew that his words concerning her current lodging were logical. She would ask for a re-location tomorrow.

* * *

_...the next day, Gendo's office..._

Looking up from his work, Gendo saw Rei approaching. "Yes, Rei?"

She stopped in front of his desk. "Commander, I request to be transferred to a different place of living, away from the current district," she said, dry and emotionless.

That sparked Gendo's interest. Rei had never before complained about her living arrangements. So why the sudden change? "Explain the request," he ordered.

"I was made aware that my current living arrangements can possibly seriously hamper my ability to follow my purpose. Therefore my request to be transferred to a district, where these factors are non-present," she explained, cold and logical.

Gendo looked at it from all angles and couldn't find a flaw in her logic. But it made him suspicious why she would make such a request. She shouldn't complain at all, should only follow orders, she was just a means to the end, a pawn. He could simply deny the request and send her away, Rei would accept it without blinking an eye. But looking at her face reminded him of her...and he had never been able to deny Yui. He cursed himself. Why had he used a part of her DNA in the mix from the many donors, put the part of Yui's genetic information into Rei, that defined her appearance? It was because of a stupid longing, and now it was a weakness.

Deciding that it wouldn't disrupt his scenario, he regained his cool. "Request granted."

Rei knew that it was a dismissal, and left. She couldn't help but to feel...relief at getting out of the Commander's glare. Today had been different form her other days. Shinji had tried to talk with her. She hadn't really known what to talk about, so it had been awkwand. Their conversation finally starting when Shinji had asked her what she did in her free time. When she said, that she did nothing, he had looked disbelieving at her, before telling her that maybe he should show her how to have fun. She had agreed. Only then she had noticed many of the others listening in, being astounded that 'mute Ayanami' had finally spoken with someone. And a minute ago this was the first time the Commander had made her...nervous. What if he had denied her request?

Now she had other things on hand, namely going to the right section for her move.

Gendo meanwhile was thinking. The First Child's sudden request to move to a different district of the city had thrown him shortly off balance. Hadn't he crafted her personality in a way that she wouldn't question him? But then, Dr. Akagi had warned him, that she was still a 3/4 human, and therefore prone to the same influences as everyone. Then who gave her that idea? Gendo already knew it: the Third Child. Rei had mentioned him yesterday, but he had simply brushed it off. Obviously he had been hasty in that.

Problem was, that he couldn't send the Third Child away again. He was the only one capable of piloting Unit-01, their strongest weapon. Gendo had no illusions why only his son could do so. It could be only Yui's doing that Rei was incompartible to the EVA. He had opened Pandora's Box, and now he would have to adapt his plans to it.

He would tolerate it as long as Rei won't question her place in the scenario and her efficiency would be to his statisfaction. But if that would change, he wouldn't hesitate to take measures to ensure that this problem would be corrected.

Nothing would stay in his way.

* * *

_...later that afternoon..._

Walking home from his training, he saw Rei walking to the apartment complex where he lived with Misato. He was surprised to see here there, she lived almost on the other side of the city, so that was unusual. "Hello, Rei!"

Rei noticed him. "Shinji," she greeted him.

"How comes that you are in this part of the city?" Shinji asked her.

"My request for a move was granted. I was re-located to this apartment complex," she explained, pointing to the apartment complex in front of them.

"Why, that is the same building where I live. Strange coincidence," Shinji wondered.

"The whole building is owned by a company that in return is owned to 100 percent by NERV. Only NERV personell lives here," Rei answered matter-of-fact.

"Oh..." That explained how Misato could afford her way of life. She hadn't to pay any rent as employee of NERV. He imagined that NERV propably owned quite a number of buildings in the city without anyone knowing. Riding up the elevator, he was even more surprised when he saw that her new home was on the same floor as Misato's apartment. It was only down the corridor, several boxes being delivered and stacked around the door.

"This is all you own?" Shinji asked.

"It is all I need." She then opened the door. The apartment had already come with some basic things. A stove, a fridge, a table with two chairs, a bed and a complete bathroom were in the package. In Shinji's opinion, some more things couldn't hurt.

"C-can I help you moving in all your stuff?" he asked her.

Rei looked at him. She had no idea why he had stuttered. She filed it in her mind under customs and interactions to be be researched, before giving a nod to agree. However, it was his bad luck that right now Misato stepped out of the elevator, seeing Shinji helping Rei move some stuff.

"Shinji? So young and already moving in with your girlfriend?" she asked with a smile.

Shinji blushed. "Misato, that isn't nice!"

Rei stood at the side, wondering what the hell was just now going on, as she understood the words, but not the meaning behind them.

* * *

_...nearly two weeks later..._

While stripping down to put on her plugsuit for the re-activation of Unit-00 in less than half a hour, Rei thought about what had happened in the last two weeks. Shinji had been very insistant to show her that keeping her apartment clean was very important, as well as telling her that balanced eating habits were much more healthy (he again reminded her that it would be helpful to keep her healthy). She only had made it clear that she disliked meat. She still wasn't really talkative, but listening proved much easier. Shinji also had tried to show her how to have fun and free-time activities. She hadn't really got it, failing to see the deeper reason in it. However, it was still better than looking at a wall for hours, so much she knew.

Of course, Shinji had become the target of Captain Katsuragi's teasing, once she found out about these activities. She had heared several of the suggestions the Captain had made to Shinji, what they supposendly were doing, causing Shinji to become an interesting shade of red, before trying to correct her. She herself had stayed cool and said nothing. So much, that the Captain had told her that she was no fun at all.

Putting her clothes into the locker, she stopped for some seconds, looking at herself, remembering Shinji's words that being naked is something very intimate. Putting on her plugsuit, she pushed the switch to compress it, making it hugging her skin-tight.

There was no time for such things now. She had a more important task.

Minutes later, Unit-00 was again in the test cage, and inside the entry plug, Rei prepared for the activation of the EVA. It had worked countless times, apart from the last test. So the mathmatical probality that something would go wrong was next to zero.

"Rei, do you hear me?" came the voice of the Commander over the comm.

"Yes.," she answered totally professional, concentrating on the task.

"We're commencing Unit Zero's reactivation experiment now," he said.

At once everyone went to their work to finally safely active the orange behemoth back to life. The lights in the control room lit up as the machinery was powered up for the task. Shinji watched everything from a viewport at the side of the cage together with Misato, both hoping that everything would go without trouble.

"The conditions of the pulses and harmonics are good," Maya reported.

"There are no problems with synchronization. All nerve links are completed. Nerve center devices are operational," Shigeru reported from his station, watching the screens closely.

"Checked. Up to 2590 on the list satisfied." All lights started to go from red to green. "Until the absolute critical line, 2.5, 1.7, 1.2, 1.0, 0.8, 0.6, 0.5, 0.4, 0.3, 0.2, 0.1, and rising! Borderline cleared!" Maya reported, as the EVA rose its head, but unlike last time, it was peaceful. "Unit Zero has activated. But the synch-ratio is down to almost 43 percent."

"That was expected," Ritsuko shugged, "After the last rejection it will take a while before Rei will be back to her old scores. That she still is over forty after this is already very good."

Rei felt herself slightly merging with the Eva, her movements becoming its movements, only it felt somewhat numb, result of her synch-ratio lower than usual. "Roger. Now I'll start an interlock test," she told the control room, starting all kinds of movements. She felt somehow easier, now that the test had been successful.

"You see, Shinji, nothing to fear about," Misato told him. She had finally found the topic that would made Shinji react to her teasing, namely Rei Ayanami. She guessed he had a little crush on her, especially now that she had moved into the same building, and she had quite some fun. Of course she wouldn't overdo it, but seeing Shinji blushing from time to time was worth it.

"Yeah..." Shinji said. He couldn't help it, but he felt like the cyclops EVA was watching them. Maybe it was the unusual eye configuration...

* * *

_...far outside on sea..._

No one knew that far outside on the ocean, a glowing protal opened, and a huge object flew out of it, looking like a huge, blue, eight-sided, flying diamond. It emitted a strange song while moving. The portal closed behind it. This huge Angel was called Ramiel. And he was exactly the way he looked like: ice-cold and calculating.

He had experienced how Sachiel and Shamshel had fared and failed in their tries to free Adam. And while he was grieved over their death, he handed the task before him with pure professionalism. Having analyzed their errors, he wouldn't be so stupid to let his emotions get the better of him. He would succeed where they had failed. He had already made his plan. Every possible situation he had calculated into his plan.

_**You may have defeated these two, Lilim, but they were fools who rushed hot-headed into battle. Wait until you get a taste of what I'm capable of... **_he thought, while calculating his path to his target. He wasn't blinded by hatred against the purple abnormity that the Lilim had created. Instead, he would soley concentrate on freeing his father, the call clear.

But should the perversion appear, he would show it what stuff he was made of.

_**You shouldn't have hurt our father, spawn of Lilith. Because everyone who hurts him, also hurts us!**_

Having completed his calculations in his computer-like brain, Ramiel started his mission to free Adam from the clutches of the Lilim.

_**to be continued...**_

(1) San Angels is the union of Los Angeles and San Diego, after both cities sustained damage in S.I._**  
**_

_**Next Episode:**_

_**"Ramiel"**_


	6. Ramiel

I will say these things in advance: I have absolutely no rights at NGE, but you should have already known that.

The story itself is basically a re-telling of the original storyline, but twisted into my way. While at the beginning there seem to be only few divigances, it will become more with each episode. The people, their motivations and the backgrounds are while holding true to the basic layout, changed at my imagination in many details, so canon-purists now are allowed to flame me.

NOTE: I hate both, the ending of the TV series, and how End of Evangelion turned out. So don't expect any of those outcomes.

This will be Shinji/Rei. It was somewhat difficult to put changes into this one.

For all the work I put into this, I would like to get reviews. I will always try to respond to every review I get.

* * *

**Chapter 5: Ramiel**

The tests with Unit-00 were proceeding nicely for all involved, the EVA turned out to be fully functional, until the telephone on the control terminal rang. Fuyutsuki answered it. "Yes?...Are you sure?...Wait for orders!" He hung up. "Ikari, an unknown flying object is entering our airspace, heading directly towards Tokyo-3. Everything points out that this is the fifth Angel approaching us."

"Stop the tests. Full alert for the whole city! Everyone to battle stations!" Gendo ordered. Everyone at once followed his orders, and the signal for red alert was given in the entire base.

"Will we use Unit-00, now that it is functional?" the Vice-Commander asked.

"No, Rei is too much out of shape for this," Gendo decided. He looked to Dr. Akagi. "Prepare Unit-01! The pilot has to be in it as fast as possible!" he ordered.

"Yes, Sir!" Ritsuko acknowledged, then scrambled, to get her crew to the main bridge to prepare everything for the start.

Gendo turned on the comm. "Rei, everything went all right. You can leave the unit now."

"Good." was all she said, before the plug returned to its shut down state. Leaning back, she closed her eyes and forced some residure air out of her lungs, the bubbles rising out of her mouth into the plug. She wondered why she wasn't chosen for the fight. Wasn't that for what she was made for? The Commander's order confused her.

* * *

_...several minutes later..._

Floating towards Tokyo-3, the massive body of Ramiel reflected the sun, while emitting its beautiful but deadly song. Ramiel wasn't surprised at all by all the fire that was opened at him from the automated batteries, but he ignored it, as his AT-field, his shield, was one of the strongest. He would take care of these annoyances once he would be over his target.

_**Cute...but in the end futile against me, **_he thought, while getting closer to his target, which was already in his sight.

Everthing had become hectical in NERV, Shinji was already in Unit-01, while the last preperations were made for his emegency start to intercept the Angel before it could enter the city and thus create much destruction in the wake of battle. (last time with all the property damage had been bad enough to their budget.)

"The target is almost at the edge of Tokyo-3!" Lt. Aoba reported, monitoring the strange looking Angel very closely. "Strange...no kind of weapons are visible, everything is smooth as a mirror. How it plans to attack is totally unknown."

"Are we ready?!" Misato demanded.

"Yes! EVA ready for launch!"Lt. Hyuga reported.

"Launch!" Misato ordered, and the EVA at once was shot to the surface.

Ramiel saw the hatch on the ground open, and the rails shooting out of it. He knew what that meant: they were finally bringing up the big guns against him, after these toys proved useless against him. _**Oh really?...Let me show you this...**_

"Massive energy increase inside the target!" Lt. Aoba reported, when suddenly all his gauges went haywire. "Impossible...the sheer amout of power in it!"

"What?!" Misato suddenly snapped. She realized that this Angel seemed to know that it would be attacked...and it would... She realized in horror what she would do in that situation, just as she saw Unit-01 shoot to the surface. "SHINJI! WATCH OUT!"

"Huh?"

_**Ha ha ha ha ha ha!**_

**-ZZAMMMMMMMMP-**

Before Shinji had any time to react, a white glowling beam shot out of the Angel, directly into the chest of the EVA, melting it like butter, heating up the EVA to temperatures it wasn't built for. All of the LCL in the entry plug started to boil within a second, giving Shinji a taste how a boiled lobster had to feel. He felt as if he was cooked alive, and it sent a huge shock to his system.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Shinji...No! PULL HIM IN! QUICK!" Misato screamed in horror when she heared his screams of pain. The EVA was pulled in and the beam exploded against the ground.

Ramiel shut the beam off. Thanks to his unlimited energy storage he could do so as often as he wished. Too bad that the perversion had retreated before he had managed to punch his beam through. Next time he should fire at full power. _**Well, no matter. I'm nonetheless prepared for should they try again. Now back to my mission... **_Floating to the city centre, directly over his target, he released a number of short bursts to deal with the annoying weapons still firing at him.

Then he pushed down his drill. His plan was simple, yet effective. He would drill down until he would reach his father. He then would extend his AT-field from the drill to carry him up through the hole. Simple, but efficient. _**Father, only hold out a little more, then you will be free. **_His drill smashed into the street below, starting to dig.

Ramiel concentrated on the drilling, so he reduced his observation of the surroundings to a certain distance. Not that any danger came from beyond his scanning range. Nothing could get through his shield.

In the geofront meanwhile, Misato was horrified at the extend of the damage. inflicted on the EVA. They had to revive Shinji, as his heart had stopped due to the shock, and he was now in in the intensive care unit to calm down his system and repair the damage done. It was a wonder that he was still alive, the whole chest armor of Unit-01 had literally melted away. It was shocking that the Angel had such a firepower to simply break through the EVA's defenses.

_No...we won't let you win! _she thought in determination. This monster had hurt Shinji, so they would have to find a way to hurt it back.

* * *

_...20 minutes later..._

A blimp formed like Unit-01 was slowly dragged by a remote-controlled boat towards Tokyo-3 from the far side of the lake. Suddenly just when a invisible border was breached, a short burst destroyed the fake on the sport.

_"Particle beam has hit and vaporised the drone."_

"All right, now for something different!" Misato ordered.

Further away than the blimp, a remote-controlled train rolled out of a tunnel with a Class-12 mortar gun. As soon as it had stopped, it fired a horrible, energy-encased shell at the Angel. But it simply hit a hexagonal wall of light. A second later the Angel reacted by vaporising the whole train with a short burst.

_"Particle beam has hit and vaporised the Class-12 mortar."_

"That is interesting..." Misato realized.

Minutes later she had gathered everyone so that they could report to her their findings. Lt. Hyuga started by stating the offensive and defensive cabilities of the Angel.. "The Angel automatically attacks everything inside a certain radius. It however also attacks something outside of it as soon as it is made aware of the threat by an attack. The particle beam's strength is unknown, but propably it can destroy an EVA in a matter of seconds. So a melee combat is impossible. The AT-field is extremely strong, like a undestructible wall, and it is always active. So conventional weapons are useless."

"The core?" Misato asked.

"We actually found it easily enough, it is as if the Angel isn't concerned about us scanning it. It is at the exact center, meaning that it is well protected by the crystaline body of the Angel," Lt. Hyuga added.

"That thing is a flying fortress," Misato realized. "What about the drill?" she asked Lt. Aoba.

"The drill has a diameter of 17.5 meters, and it will, when coming through, directly hit the headquarters. At current speed, it will have drilled through the 22 layers of armor into the geofront in 9 hours and 50 minutes, meaning shortly after midnight. Attacking it is useless, as it also is protected by the AT-field," he reported to Misato.

Right then they heared a sort of quiet groaning. _"Attention, the drill has started to break through the first layer!" _came the report.

"Damn..." Misato cursed. This went from bad to worse. "What about Unit-01?" she asked Ritsuko.

Ritsuko was busy with nursing her coffee to get the needed energy. "The whole chest armor is ruined, literally melted away. But thankfully we just pulled it back down in time. Three seconds more, and the central core would have been destroyed. We will need three hours to repair the EVA and install the new armor. Then it will be again battle-ready."

"And Unit-00?" Misato asked Lt. Ibuki.

"We can use it, but we still have to get some feedback problems out of the way, meaning that while Rei can control it, actual combat with it is out of the question for now," Maya reported.

Misato looked back to Ritsuko "What about the pilot of Unit-01, how bad was he injured?"

"He had been lucky," Ritsuko admitted. "A little longer and he would have been cooked alive. The damage is only minimal, he only needs to go over the physical shock. So we can release him from the IC-Unit in a hour," Ritsuko told her.

"Considering all this...I guess we are in quite a lot of trouble..." Misato sighed.

"Maybe we should raise the white flag?" Makoto offered, having no idea how to go against an enemy like that.

"No. Dr. Akagi! I need the MAGI for some calculations. I just got an idea..."

* * *

_...Gendo's office..._

"Did I hear right? A sniper attack with a high-energy wield weapon from outside the Angel's circle of alertness?" Fuyutsuki again asked.

"A single point attack with a high energy convergence unit, without first neutralizing the target's AT-field. There's no other way to beat this enemy," Misato explained further. "We only have to aquire the needed hardware first."

"What is the MAGI's conclusion on the plan?" the Vice-Commander then asked, sceptical.

"The MAGI say that the plan is possible, albeit success is not guranteed," Misato admitted.

"Yes, because they only gave this plan a 8.7 percent chance of a success," Fuyutsuki added. "These aren't the best numbers."

"Yet we have no alternatives," Gendo finally said, after listening all the time. "Your plan is the one still promising the best chance of success. I authorize you to make it succeed. Dismissed."

Misato left the room, leaving the two men alone. Fuyutsuki looked to Gendo. "We should have known that something like this would happen, the scrolls were quite precise on the fifth Angel. This will get us into trouble."

"We shouldn't cry over spilt milk. If the old men want to complain, let them. There is nothing they can hold against us," Gendo answered calmly. "I won't talk to them anyway until this crisis is over, so they can wait."

Kozo Fuyutsuki wondered if Gendo actually enjoyed now being in a position where he could tell SEELE that they could do nothing against him without seriously putting their own plans and time-table into danger. _Better watch out, because if you anger them too much, they will accept these setbacks just to get rid of you, Gendo, _he thought.

* * *

_...military storehouse, 8:52 until break-through..._

"You can't be serious!" the officer in charge protested when Misato showed them the order to hand over the prototype of the positron rifle of the Japanese Defense Forces to NERV. "I won't recognise these orders from NERV!"

"And this is your last word?" Misato asked the officer. She should have known that it wouldn't be that easy. NERV hadn't a good reputation with the military in the first place.

"Definitely!" he stated, crossing his arms in defaince.

Misato wondered why she had even tried it this way, as she had almost expected this. They had to have their positron rifle, as it was the only one with enough firepower for the job. But it seemed that aquiring it from the army took a little more efford than she had first thought. Pulling out her cell phone, she dialed a number. _Time to use a little NERV-influence... _"A moment please..."

The officer watched Misato leave for some minutes, then she returned. "You are still set on your opinion?" she asked him.

"Yes! Not even the Tenno(1) can convince me otherwise!" he told her with force. No way that he would let their most expensive piece of hardware let fall into the hands of these people. They would never see it again.

"Then you can tell this to him personally..." she simply said, giving him the phone.

The officer lost almost all of his color when he accepted the call. "Yes, my emperor!...No, my emperor, it won't be a problem!... I feel honored!" The call ended, and he looked totally pale. "Y-you can take it with you."

"Thanks. We will try to return it to you in one piece." The roof of the storehouse slid open, revealing Unit-00. "All right, Rei. Take the container. But be careful, it is fragile."

"We estimated that it will take at least 180 Giga-Watts to punch through the Angel's AT-field. From where will we get all the power?" Lt. Hyuga asked Misato, while they left the storehouse.

"I planned that, too. From all of Japan," she explained. "Why do we have one of the most modern power grids in the world if not for this?"

Over the next hours, in all of Japan the news reported that because of a crisis, the power grid had to be shut off for several hours. People were told to be calm, as that was not a bad sign, but a means to get over the impending danger. It was also broadcasted over several other means, so that everyone knew it. People had suffered enough in the last 15 years that they accepted it without thinking, assuming that if the government ordered it, it would be all right.

* * *

_...NERV, 6:45 until break-through..._

_"The drill has just breached the 7th armor layer!"_

Misato tried not to get unnerved by the news that already seven layers had been pierced. Instead she tried to concentrate on her job. "Is everything within our timetable?" she asked Makoto.

"We are 3.2 percent behind the plan, but at 23:10 we should be finished with building all of the power supply lines," he reported to her.

"Good," she pressed the button for the intercom. "Section 3, how long until the weapon is ready?"

"We have all the needed components, but we will need roughly three hours to assemble it," the responsible technican reported.

"All right, try to make it less." She then looked to Ritsuko. "What did your department got for defense?"

"In the little time available the only thing we could get was a shield. It is from the bottom of a space shuttle, and therefore very heat resistant. We predict that it can hold off the particle beam for 17 seconds," she told Misato, showing her a huge metal shield on the screen.

"It will have to do. Otherwise the EVAs are literally naked against that Angel. Now we just need a place from where we can fire."

"The only place with a free view on the target, outside of its scanning distance and suitable for the infrastructure we need, is this mountain here," Hyuga pointed out on the screen. "It perfectly suits the needs for this operation."

"Good work, so we will fire from the Mt. Futagoyama. All energies are from now on spent to make it possible to start the operation on midnight. Operation code name _'Flying Fortress' _is from now on top priority for all personell!" she announced.

_Now we just have to wait for Shinji to wake up... _Misato hoped that he felt all right. The tension made her push aside most emotion for the moment, but she couldn't help but to worry about him, despite the report that he was all right.

* * *

_...in the hospital..._

Sitting by Shinji's bedside, Rei was waiting for him to wake up. They had said that his brain waves would just need a little time to re-adjust themselves, nothing to worry about. Watching him, she realized how peaceful he looked. After all the concern he had shown for her well-being, she now thought that it was the best course of action to have the same behaviour towards him, now that he was the one injured. She couldn't explain it, but after hearing his pained scream, and seeing him rolled away to the ICU, she wanted to make sure that he was all right. Something didn't gave rest in her until she knew that Shinji was all right.

She wondered what this could be. Was it emotion? If yes, how should she deal with it? Rei realized that the only one she could ask was Shinji himself. And now was not the time for things like this, as they were in a rather serious situation with the crisis at hand. And they were on a tight timetable. But when the crisis was over, she would ask him about it, as this became more pressing with each day.

These strange stirrings within her had to be explainable somehow.

Finally she saw Shinji move, but it was as if he was scared by something. Interested she listened to his whispers. "No...where...not possible...want...out..." he whisped with fear in his voice.

_Is he dreaming? What feels it like to dream? _Rei wondered. But if Shinji was dreaming, his dreams seemed to be of a rather horrible manner. But Rei knew that even this was more than she had. What it felt to dream, she had no idea. She had no memory of ever having being able to dream.

She wondered if she ever would have a dream, while she watched Shinji starting to move in unrest, his dream obviously quite bad. And Rei had no idea what to do.

She only knew she would ask him after this crisis how it is, to dream.

* * *

_"Where am I?" Shinji wondered. The sky was in a strange, reddish twilight, and the air smelled like nothing. For some reason, it disturbed him to no end. He realized that he was on one of the hills overlooking Tokyo-3, but it was deathly silent, even the wind had died down. When he turned around, he froze in horror. _

_"No...a bad dream!" he screamed._

_Where Tokyo-3 should have been...was only a big hole. He had no problem to see into the debris-filled geofront below. And the rest of the surroundings looked like a gigantic battlefield, with destroyed military hardware everywhere and the outer districts of the city burnt-out ruins. This horrible display of destruction distrubed Shinji to no end._

_"No...that can't be possible..." scared, he ran into the opposite direction._

_But as soon as he left the trees, he was confronted with a even more horrible sight. Before him, lying in the fields, was a horribly mrangled EVA! Shinji felt the bile rising up when he saw that the EVA had been literally ripped apart, teeth marks witness that it was partly eaten, a lake of blood forming under it with its innards strawn around._

_"Gods!...This can't be happening!"_

_In panic, Shinji ran away from the big cadaver as fast as his feet allowed him, but the nightmare only got worse. He saw nine EVA's crucified in grotesque poses. He saw a giant, rotting face that looked like Rei, and yet she wasn't it. The rotting face scared him to no end. And he then saw himself, sitting at the shore of an orange lake, choking a red-haired girl, who he had never seen before, to death. _

_"How disgusting..." were the only words she croaked while slowly being choked to death._

_Shinji looked away. "No...I'm no murderer!" In panic, Shinji ran back to the city, to a highway connecting to it. But that only made things even worse. The battle site he before had only seen from afar was now literally around him._

_"No...no...NO!"_

_Destroyed military hardware was strewn all over the place, along with many, empty uniforms. But strangely enough, no bodies. The further he ran, the more the world seemed to fall into ruins. Countless voices started to encircle him, accusing him, screaming at him. Shinji felt as if he was losing his mind. He thought that seven horrible, menacing eyes were staring at him in a most threatening way._

_"This isn't real! This hasn't happened! I want out! I WANT OUT! NOOOOOOOOOOO!"_

* * *

"No!" Shinji screamed, sitting uptight in the bed, sweating. He needed some seconds before he realized that he was in a hospital bed, and not in a ruined, dead world. _A dream, no, a nightmare. Nothing more!_

Most of the details of the dream were already slipping away, as this was the nature of dreams, but he nonetheless knew roughly what has disturbed him so much. These horrible pictures had horrified him so much, it was a mercy that he already had forgotten most of the details, or it would be an invitation to more nightmares.

"Shinji?"

Looking to his left, he saw Rei standing beside his bed. "Rei? You...you watched over me while I was sleeping?" he asked her, a little surprised that she was there.

"Isn't it appropiate for me to be concerned about your well-being?" she asked him.

"Yes, of course."

"I did the same thing you did for me," she stated. She then looked him up and down, and Shinji felt strangely uncomfortable. "You want to walk around like this?"

Shinji looked down and only now realized that the blanket had slipped off, leaving him in his birthday suit. And Rei just got a good look at his... "AHH!" pulling up the blanket, Shinji blushed, becoming a cute red on the face. "I-I guees that means we are even, right?" he stammered. "We both got a good look at each other."

"My observation is mainly that by visual inspection you are a healthy male," she told him, totally unfazed by his nudity. The way she told him this sounded like a scientist was describing a well equipped man. "You will need this," she handled him his spare plugsuit. "Captain Katsuragi has developed a plan how to destroy the Angel."

Rei explained the whole plan to him, in almost ridiculous, boring detail. Shinji knew, that was like her to leave out nothing, so he listened to all of it. Finally Rei was done with explaining the plan, and Shinji wondered if Misato's plan was either brilliant or totally stupid. It had to work. But if it didn't work he wouldn't have to fear getting dressed down, because they then would be all dead by then.

"Well, I guess we will have to try that. Otherwise we will be dead anyway," Shinji finally said.

"Dress, then eat something to get some strength. We will leave then," she explained to him

"Uh, Rei?" Shinji noticed that she made no move to leave. "I would like to have some privacy while I put on the plugsuit.While -eh- you now have seen all of me, I prefer to leave it at this one incident. Could you please wait outside?"

"Understood." She left him alone.

Shinji shook his head. Rei was really a strange girl. She didn't act at all like the other girls he had met in school in all his time. But maybe that was why he felt so interested in her? She was nothing like these girly girls, and he liked it that way. Of course thinking about her had some side effects.

_Shit, not now! Think about something else, or you won't be able to get on the plug suit! _he cursed himself.

Thankfully he managed to calm himself down in a minute. Dressing in his plug suit, he followed Rei. He knew he would need something to eat now, because there would be no time for it later.

* * *

_...roof of the school, 6:00 until break-through..._

Considering that it hadn't been a school day when the attack had happened, there was a quite big assembley of boys, and even some girls, watching from the roof of the school over the city. It was a bit surreal to watch the Angel in the city center reflecting the orange light of the starting dusk. Unlike the last two Angels, it seemed so far less dangerous. But they of course knew that it surely wasn't. The several melted down buildings where it had simply shot through with its beam were witness of that. Kensuke nonetheless had filmed it for minutes, before he had realized that it wasn't doing anything for now.

"The waiting goes on my nerves. We should be down in the shelter," Toji warned Kensuke. The sight of the Angel made him nervous. While it maybe looked beautiful, he knew very well that that thing could be very deadly.

"Just be glad that it isn't a school day. Imagine the Class Rep catching you in the act," Kensuke replied calmly.

"Don't remind me..." Toji remembered it too well. Hikari had given him the cold shoulder for almost an entire week. It had been the hardest week he had for a long time sice having the Class Repesentative angry at you was always a bad sign. It was even worse for him, because...no, he vowed that no one should know what he secretly felt for her. If he only could ever get the courage to talk to her without sounding like an idiot. Thankfully she had finally stopped being mad at them after the week, and everything had returned to normal.

Kensuke knew, mentioning the Class Rep always shut up Toji. "I hacked into my father's computer. According to the plan, it should start at any moment."

"Well, I see nothing..." Toji commented.

**-ehtt- -ehtt- -ehtt- -ehtt-**

Hearing that noise, they looked to the hillside beside the school, only to see it slide aside, revealing a huge gate, which in return opened as well. "Hey, cool! A secret exit!" They all cheered when they sew Unit-01 emerge from the gate. But they all looked in surprise when a second EVA appeared, this one armed with a huge shield.

"That must be the one Ayanami is piloting. Wow!" Kensuke again looked like he had an orgasm just from watching all that military hardware in action.

All of them shouted their best wishes, and that they should really kick the Angel's butt, while they watched them walking ouside the Angel's field of view towards the Mt. Futagoyama.

* * *

_...3:25 until break-through..._

_"The drill has just breached the 17th armor layer!"_

"Be careful with that thing. We only have that one," Dr. Akagi cautioned Shinji, while he placed the positron rifle at the correct place for the shot. As soon as he was done, he left the EVA, while the technicans were busy with connecting the weapon to the power grid. Literally all of the mountain had become one giant power distribution facility, with cooling units and power facilities everywhere, surrounded by a web of cables.

"I hope that thing won't blow us sky-high. From what I heared it was never tested before," Shinji exclaimed while looking at the giant weapon. "Why have they even built that big thing? Surely not for us."

"No idea. Who knows what the JSSDF have in store? As for the danger...I don't know if the accelerator and cannon will withstand the blast. But look at it like this, doing nothing or the rifle blowing up will have the same result, so we better take this gamble," Ritusko said cynically, knowing very well that there were dozends of things that could go wrong.

Misato joined them together with Rei. "Good, Shinji, Rei, I will now give you two the exact battle plan, so listen carefully. Shinji will be the gunner, Rei the defender. That is because Shinji's synch-ratio is higher and we need more precise operation this time. Since the positron beam is influenced by the magnetic field, gravity field and the revolution of the Earth, it will not fire in a straight line. Don't forget to adjust for that error-you must hit the core precisely."

Shinji looked somewhat sceptical. "I never did something like that before, not even in practise. I hope I can manage it."

"The computer does most of the work. Just fire when the automatic aim is dead on. For a second shot, you will have to wait a little while to replace the fuse, let the rifle cool down, and give the facility time to reload the rifle," Ritsuko added, trying to reassure Shinji.

"What if the enemy shoots at me before I can destroy it?" Shinji asked, realizing that they had never brought up this possibility.

"That is why Rei is here. She will use the shield to deflect the particle beam for hopefully long enough, so that you can fire and destroy the Angel, should it come to that," Misato reassured him.

"I understand." That was the only thing Rei said to acknowledge her role in the operation.

"Good, we won't need you two until 23:30, when we will start with powering up, so try to relax a little for the time being," Misato offered them.

Shinji and Rei took that as a dismissal, and left the two woman and the crews alone to do their work. They couldn't do anything but to wait for now. Leaning on a railing at the mountainside, Shinji looked over the brightly lit Tokyo-3...or at least the outer districts as the inner city was retracted, and the giant Angel simply hovering in its middle. "You know, Rei, if this goes wrong, we won't have any time to regret it."

"Why do you think like this? Remember, I will protect you," she reminded him.

"Aren't you scared to die?" Shinji asked her.

Rei continued to look over the city, not facing him. "I'm replaceable. So it doesn't mean anything to me."

_What the hell has my old man done to her? _"Don't say something like that! You are not replaceable. Even if they clone you, it wouldn't be really you. Everything in there," he pointed at her head, "Everything that makes you who you are, would be lost forever. So don't think you have so little worth...Your life is precious."

Rei knew she couldn't tell Shinji the way of how she came to be, it was top secret. It was ironical how close he was nonetheless, but he was wrong in one aspect. Otherwise his words were quite true, but since she couldn't tell him the truth, she decided to answer with a question. "So ensuring my own survival in battle is directly after the mission objective the most important task?"

"Yes! As long as you are scared to die, you are really alive. If you lose that...you truely are lost," Shinji explained to her.

Rei knew still, she could be replaced and it wouldn't make a difference for her. But the memory of last time had been so painful and horrible, that now his words rang true to her. "I do not want my life to be ended by outside forces."

Shinji knew that now she got it.

* * *

_...0:36 until break-through..._

In all of Japan, the power was cut, and the lights literally went out. The whole land became dark and silent, unusual for the nation. In Tokyo-3 as well, all power was cut, except inside the geofront, and the city went dark, with only the blue shimmer from the huge Angel illuminating the city sparsely.

Of course Ramiel didn't fail to notice that suddenly everything around him went dark, and his scans confimed that every electric activity inside his scanning distance had suddenly stopped. And it did made him suspicious. _**Very strange... Hmmm, the drill reports that it hadn't hit any kind of power lines. What could this mean?**_

He tried to calculate several scenarios, but he came to no definite conclusion. However, his feeling told him that the Lilim were planning something. He was still concentrating on drilling, but he decided that this was too suspicious.

_**Don't think I'm stupid, Lilim. **_So he started to very slowly expand the automatic search radius, while shifting more of his attention to his surroundings. He wouldn't fail!

Sitting on one of the catwalks connecting to the entry plugs, Shinji and Rei meanwhile looked over the dark city, the blue glowing Angel glowing like a beacon in the darkness. Tension was in the air, the next half a hour would decide if they would die, or not.

"Rei? Why do you pilot EVA? I never asked you for your reasons. I do it because I feel that I have to, or otherwise people will get hurt or die. I do it to protect everyone," Shinji asked her.

Rei knew, she couldn't tell him that she was literally made to do the job. However, his reasons were sound and cerainly pure. So she tried to tell him a part of the truth, cryptic enough that the truth was concealed. "Because I'm connected to everyone, all people. It is my duty."

"So you too do it to protect people? This is a noble reason. You are a strong person, Rei. You could have done it for glory or for your ego, but instead you only want to help."

"I do what I have to do. There is little else for me in life," Rei told him.

Shinji snorted. After witnessing how empty her life was, he had no doubt about that. While her reasons for piloting were good, the fact that she had little else in her life was really perverse. "Well, I hope I can change that. Humans don't live on piloting alone, there is much more to live for."

Rei got up. "That is agreeable, but now is not the right time. Come, we have to enter our EVA. The operation is about to begin. Goodbye."

"Not goodbye. Good luck. Because we will need it. And I intend to see you again." Shinji then walked down the catwalk to his entry plug.

* * *

_...0:06 until break-through..._

"Start operation!" Misato ordered when the clock hit midnight. They had now six minutes to get through with it.

The huge machinery on the mountain sprang to life as it started to move all of the energy into the special accumulators for the positron rifle, while at the same time they drew even more energy from the network. Cooling systems ran on overdrive to keep the temperature within the system in reasonable parameters.

"Load the fuse," Lt. Hyuga ordered to Shinji. Shinji did as ordered, and the indicators for the rifle sprang to green. "Everything looks good, 30 seconds until energy maximum is reached."

Shinji was nervous, while he watched the targeting computer slowly home in on the target, the energy scale climbing higher up with each second. _Damn! I have to nail it with the first shot, or I'm dead meat..._

Hyuga counted the last seconds. "10...9...8..."

However, Ramiel wasn't stupid. He had widened his scanning area so far now, that had picked up a sudden energy increase on the other side of the big lake. It was so much energy that it worried him. Taking no chances, he put full energy in his scanning, and discovered the reason.

_**WHAT! They dare? **_But Ramiel now knew he was in danger. The perversion had enough energy to emulate his weapon, and possibly destroy him. He couldn't allow this. _**That was your last mistake. **_At once he powered up his weapon at maximum power. He would pulverise that thing now, no more taking chances!

"...6...5..."

"Energy increase in the Angel!" Maya shouted.

That was the worst thing Dr. Akagi could have heared. "It noticed us! Not now!"

"...2..1!"

"FIRE!" Misato shouted.

Shinji didn't waste another second and pulled the trigger, a white beam shooting out of the positron rifle. A millisecond later, the Angel fired off its own beam. Both beams met halfway, winding around each other as if struggling to overpower the other, before they continued their path. However they did so while going down at the same time.

**-WWWWWWAAAAAAAMMMMMM- -BRRROOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM-**

Two huge explosions sent flames into the sky when they hit the ground. The Angel's beam had impacted at the mountain base, shaking the NERV people through with the shockwave, but no real damage was done.

The Angel had been less fortunate. The rifle's beam had hit directly below it. And while the AT-field protected the Angel from the fireball, the drill was cleanly hit and destroyed, robbing the Angel of any way to break into the geofront.

"Drill destroyed!" Lt. Ibuki reported. "Repeat, the drill is destroyed! But the Angel is intact!"

Ramiel was shocked by the destruction of his drill for some seconds, but when that was over, the anger boiled up within him. He was MAD now! His mission to save his father was now a failure with his drill destroyed. For the first time in many, many years, his anger was driving him wild, overriding his cold logic.

_**YOU FOOLS! YOU MADE ME ANGRY! **_

Now that he couldn't save his father anymore, he would destroy anything here! And he would start with these two abnormities on the mountain! At once he willed his huge mass to move towards them.

"The Angel is moving towards our position! And it seems to prepare for another beam! We seem to have made it mad!"

"Shinji, prepare to fire again!" Misato ordered in half-panic. That wasn't going according to plan. All right, the geofront was now safe, but what use was this for them? They had angered the Angel and now it looked like it was coming to play with them.

"15 more seconds! Makoto said after Shinji had replaced the fuse with a new one.

_**DIE! DIE! DIE! **_Ramiel fired off the most powerful beam he had ever created.

Shinji was blinded for a second, then he wondered why he wasn't dead. Then he saw, why. Rei was holding off the particle beam with her shield. Shinji cursed, still 8 seconds before he could fire back. The beam seemed to get only stronger, and he saw her shield starting to melt. And even the armor of Unit-00 started to show blisters, where the paintjob strated to liquidfy.

"Rei! Great gods!" he breathed in horror. She would die if he wouldn't do something soon!

"..5...4..."

_Faster! Faster! _Shinji pleaded, seeing how the armor of the other EVA started to turn brown under the heat. It seemed the closer the Angel came, the stronger the beam got. He too felt the heat now, and in seconds, the beam would literally vaporise both of them without breaking a sweat.

"...2...1!"

Shinji pulled the trigger again, and this time, nothing stood in the way of the beam.

Time seemed to slow down for Ramiel, when he saw the beam approaching. Knowing that against a power like that his AT-field couldn't hope to hold, he knew he would die. _**My own arrogance has brought me this... **_he realized. If he just had been more observant of his surroundings.

**-BLAAAMMMM-**

He felt like his heart was ripped out, when the beam cleanly shot through him, smashing his core in the process. He felt his body slowly falling down while life slipped away. _**Father...I have failed... Dark...It is so dark... **_Ramiel the Angel felt darkness surrounding him, and he died.

"YES!" Misato shouted in relief, when she saw the burning Angel going down, before it landed in the lake. It would have quite damaged the city if it had went down there, but thankfully it now sat burning in the lake. Running outside, she just watched Shinji jumping out of his entry plug, the plug of Unit-00 in his EVA's hand.

She stopped, when she saw in what condition Unit-00 was. All of the armor was literally ruined, the shield molten away to nothing. Some parts of Unit-01 only looked marginally better. Seeing Shinji open the emergency hatch to Rei's plug, she ran into that direction, hearing the exchange taking place.

"Rei? Rei! Please, say something! Please be all right!" Shinji pleaded with her, carrying her out of the plug. Rei didn't seem hurt, but the heat must have really did a number on her. Rei opened her eyes. Shinji looked at her in relief. "Thank all goodness, you are all right!"

Rei was overwhelmed with his concern for her, and had no idea what she should answer to this. "Shinji...?"

"Rei, I'm so happy that you are still with me."

Rei really had no idea what to tell him. "What should I say now?" she wondered aloud.

"Say nothing, a smile would be already enough for me." Rei tried it, but she was unsure if she did it right. But Shinj's reation was positive, before he hugged her, starting to cry in relief.

Misato decided to leave these two to themselves a little more while she would alert the medics to come as fast as possible. While Rei looked unhurt, she seemed weak. Getting her radio, she couldn't help but to smile for Shinji and Rei. Rei might be a really strange oddball, but Misato felt that after this night, these two are would start to understand each other much better.

* * *

_...inside the geofront, only minutes later..._

"This whole mess could have been prevented if you had prepared, Ikari!"

"The description of the fifth Angel had been the most detailed of all of them, why didn't you act on this?"

"This could have prevented much damage if you did! After what we saw, Unit-00 is again out of comission for quite some time."

Gendo had been prepared for the old men being angry at him. Surprisingly, SEELE 01, Keel himself, had been strangely silent the whole time since they had started grilling him. As soon as the Angel had fallen, he had gotten into contact with them. And it seemed not a minute to early.

"The scrolls hadn't spoken about when the Angel would appear. I had planned to start my preperations after the successful test of Unit-00. That the Angel appeared on exactly that day was of course bad luck," Gendo told them calmly, while Kozo Fuyutsuki stayed silent.

"A little too much of a coincidence!"

"You more appear as if you try to talk yourself out of this, Ikari!"

Finally, Keel decided to speak. "Don't think that we will forget this, Ikari. We will keep a closer look on you for now. We will leave it at the warning for now. But dare you, should you fail at your task concerning the new budget and Adam. The first thing is not in our hands, so if you don't want to endager the scenario better find a solution for it. As for Adam, we entrust him to you. Double-cross us concerning him, and you will regret it."

The holographic memebers of SEELE vanished, leaving Gendo and Kozo alone. "In your place I would play along for now. We really have walked on thin ice with the fifth Angel," he warned Gendo. He had never before seen Keel so openly voice a threat. That meant it was serious.

"Yes, letting them believe that I will obey them will be best...for now. But these fools have no idea that I have my own plans with Adam," Gendo said, before standing up. "But this isn't important now. We have other things to do first."

_**to be continued...**_

(1) Tenno is the title for the emperor of Japan.

_**Next Episode:**_

_**"Learning to live"**_


	7. Learning to live

I will say these things in advance: I have absolutely no rights at NGE, but you should have already known that.

The story itself is basically a re-telling of the original storyline, but twisted into my way. While at the beginning there seem to be only few divigances, it will become more with each episode. The people, their motivations and the backgrounds are while holding true to the basic layout, changed at my imagination in many details, so canon-purists now are allowed to flame me.

NOTE: I hate both, the ending of the TV series, and how End of Evangelion turned out. So don't expect any of those outcomes.

This will be Shinji/Rei. I think this chapter will start bigger devigences now.

Read through it carefully, I have insert a little cameo from another series.

For all the work I put into this, I would like to get reviews. I will always try to respond to every review I get.

* * *

**Chapter 6: Learning to live**

"We can only hope that no Angel attacks while we are busy with the repairs. All of Unit-00's armor is ruined and has to be replaced. This practically kills our extra budget for this month," Ritsuko grumbled while making notes.

"Shouldn't we be above death and taxes?" Misato asked her in a annoyed voice.

She always wondered who the monkeys in charge were, that they didn't give them, a organisation who as the only ones were capable to save the world, more money to do the job. It was almost as if the buerocrats had gone collectively mad. It was annoying to no end for her to witness such stupidy.

"The budget conference for the funds of the next two years starts in a week. The Commander will leave for it already tomorrow, hopes to get more cash out of them. I hope he does, or the next time an EVA is damaged, we are in trouble, even after Unit-02 arrives here," Ritsuko finally sighs, looking on the now totally naked Unit-00, all the scrapped armor removed. "Not that I expect much...you know of the newest brainchild, right?"

"I know...whoever invented this monstrosity must have their heads checked out. No way this dumb thing can go through an AT-field. But they don't know that. -Yuck-, and to think we two have to have to go to the presentation..." Misato didn't look forward to wasting an entire day with that nonsense.

"Take it like a woman...At least the last Angel had been so nice to drop into the lake. Otherwise the costs because of the damage alone would have killed us," Ritsuko concluded. "That reminds me, I heared Shinji complaining about the lessons about Second Impact in school while he returned the EVA to the cage. Better tell him what really had happened. There is no reason for him to not know."

Misato silently winced. "Ok...but I will keep it simple. He won't even understand half of it if you try to explain it. When my shift is over, I will tell him at home."

"By the way, how is he doing after all this tension days ago?" Ristuko asked, trying to ignore the jab at her habit to technobabble.

"Rei was still weak, even after you cleared her, so he tends to her today. Sweet, if you ask me. Looks like he got quite a crush on her," Misato answered with a smile.

They were interrupted, when Lt. Ibuki approached them. "We have taken inventory. We have most of the armor still in stock, so it won't take us too long to replace it all, but still long enough that we won't be done with it until Unit-02 has already arrived. Especially since we have to upgrade the EVA to equip it with the standard battle equipment for regular duty. Unit-00 will be back in battle condition in roughly a little more than three weeks," she reported to them.

"Tell the crews to at once begin with the upgrade," Ritsuko ordered.

"There is something else. The new armor is unpainted. Should we again use the orange paint?" Maya asked her.

"What do you think?" Ritsuko asked Misato for her opinion, since she wasn't an expert on good taste (not that Misato was either, but if it was ugly, it then wasn't her fault at least).

"Nah! The orange paintjob was butt-ugly. I never got how someone could chose that color. What about a shade of blue, like Rei's hair? That would fit," she offered.

"Good, blue it is," Ritsuko decided, ordering Maya to tell the crews to paint the armor blue.

* * *

_...Gendo's office..._

Gendo was on the phone, talking with an unknown source. "Yes, I will be there early to dispell any suspiction ... No, it won't be a problem ... Concerning this 'problem', I already have found a solution ..."

He listened further. "Yes, they won't know what will happen to them, and NERV will be funded as it should be." He said the last thing with a mean smile. "... Good, should something change, inform me at once."

Hanging up the phone, Gendo congratulated himself for thinking of everything. Only too bad that he wouldn't be there to see it.

* * *

_...Rei's apartment, dinner time..._

Shinji couldn't help but to smile while watching Rei eating a light vegetable soup. She had been still a little weak, even after being released from the hospital. So he had asked Misato to excuse him for that day at school, so that he could tend to Rei.

"That sure beats the stuff you usually eat. I made it myself," Shinji finally said with a smile.

After being told what she had eaten until recently, he wondered why Rei hadn't suffered from malnutrition. That girl had eating habits that were unhealthy and monotone. Hopefully he could change that in due time with showing her that there were many healthy things to eat and drink for her. But she never even got the idea to think about that, the devil knew, why.

Being done, she put down the spoon. "It was good. Can you teach me how to make this on my own?" Rei asked him.

Shinji remembered, Rei had no experience at all how to cook. To teach her would take quite some time. However, it would be worth every minute, as not only would it give her something new to do, but also it would improve her eating habits. "I would love to, but it is already too late today, so we can start on the weekend when we have time. I want to go easy on you today, you are still a little weak."

"Shinji, I have a question," she suddenly said.

He was by now used to her suddenly changing the topic, so it didn't bother him anymore. "Sure, how can I help you?"

"How is it to dream? And what has someone to do to achive dreaming?" she asked him in all seriousness, hoping that he could give her an answer to that question, which kept her busy since she had seen him dream in the hospital.

"Uh...why do you ask?" Shinji had no idea why she would ask something like this.

"In the hospital during the Angel crisis I noticed you dreaming. I never had a dream as far as I can remember," she explained further to him, giving him more information.

Shinji winced. "I have mostly forgotten that. The things I can still remember are vague. The world laid in ruins and something horrible had happened to you... The rest slips my mind. I only know that whatever had happened in that nightmare, I never want it to become real."

"This sounds unpleasant," Rei observed.

"It is what we are, sometimes we simply get nightmares, but we always wake up from them." Shinji then looked closer to Rei, remembering her confession that she never ever had a dream in her life. "How can't you dream?"

"I do not know. It always had been this way," Rei told him honestly.

"Sadly I can't help you really with how to dream. Everyone dreams. It is the way our mind uses to keep us aware, while we sleep, so that it can go through what we experienced during the day. It feels like the real thing, and yet not. I can't describe it, as everyone knows how it feels. I for my part try to think about the day while I don't even notice falling asleep," Shinji explained to her.

"Then I will try to do so as well. I will** -boarp-**" Rei stopped talking when suddenly a small belch escaped her.

Shinji didn't hide a small smile. "It seems you really like that soup. Your stomach is so busy with it, that it forces out the excess air you swallowed with it. But etiquette says you better not do this while outside your circle of friends."

"I understand..." Rei couldn't help it, but after this she needed some juice. "And you are not offended, since you are my friend," she added.

"Exactly. You are actually the first girl who I became friends with. All my other friends are boys. You are special."

Rei raised an eyebrow. That was new information for her, so she tried to know more about this. "Why am I your first female friend? And how does this make me special?" she asked him.

"I..uhm..." Shinji was suddenly at a loss of words. "You..I..." Shinji looked on his wristwatch. "Oh, damn...I, I have to prepare Misato's dinner, she returns soon. Sorry Rei, I have to go. Until tomorrow then."

Shinji left as fast as he could without making it look like fleeing. _Stupid, stupid, STUPID! What did make you say this? Damn, I DO feel drawn to her, yet I can't tell her. Not without risking her getting this the wrong way! Also I'm too chicken to do so, and now I have hurt her feelings... _he scolded himself. _I hope she won't be mad at me._

Rei looked after Shinji until he had left. Shinji's sudden change of behaviour after her question puzzled her. What had caused this reaction? She hadn't enough information about human interactions to understand his behaviour. She would make sure to get a library card. That way she could get most of the information from books.

Having nothing more to do, she prepared for bed.

* * *

_...the next day..._

"Don't eat them too fast, Pen-Pen. Otherwise you will choke on them," Shinji warned the warm-water penguin, while preparing the breakfast table. Having to watch him devouring on fish after the other in rapid succession was a little worrying.

The penguin stopped, and looked at him as if he wanted to say _"What of your business is that?", _before returning to his breakfast, albeit at a lower pace.

Shinji really wondered what exactly had been done to Pen-Pen, that he seemed so intelligent, as he propably really was. He had caught him reading the newspaper several times, meaning that he was smarter than he showed most of the time. He wasn't really a pet, more of living together with them in the same apartment.

"G' morning. -YAAAAAWN-" Misato greeted him, still sleepy when coming out of her room, her hair still a mess, still clad in her sleeping shorts. She blindly grabbed for the coffee, which was at the usual place, and emptied the whole cup in one gulp. Her eyes went wide. "Woah! Nothing better than black coffee at the morning! And the breakfast table is already set."

"By the way, I found a huge pile of unwashed laundry. Isn't that your job?" he asked her, while they both sat down to eat. "No wonder that you are still single, you often seem to forget your share. I play with the idea of instant food."

"Jeez, I will do it," Misato complained annoyed. However, she had no desire to instill the wrath of instant food on herself, so she had to do it. "You imply that I'm lazy?"

"Lazy and a slob. If not for me, you would by now live in a junk-filled hole," Shinji added, not beating around the bush.

"Ah, fuck me..." she grumbled. She never liked to hear something like this, even if it was the truth.

"No thanks, I'm not into woman senior twice my age." That effectively killed all remaining coversation. Until they were done, Shinji had washed the dishes, and he was ready to go.

**-briiiing-**

The doorbell announced someone. Most likely Rei.

Toji and Kensuke had used to go with Shinji to school, using this to look at Misato through the open door, most likely the only reason for them to take that detour. One day, after they had caught her only in her nightshirt, Shinji had a serious talk with his friends, asking them directly if they wanted to chase a woman twice their age, or try to find a girl their own age. Both of them had deflated and finally admitted that it was mostly wishful thinking mixed with hormones. They had realized after this that it had been quite stupid, and stopped doing it. It seemed easier for Toji to let go of it, and Shinji wondered, why.

"Looks like your honey is here to go with you to school," Misato teased, knowing that it could only be Rei, ready to go to school, only waiting for Shinji to come.

Now Shinji had enough. When it came to Rei, he stopped understanding such jokes. "Instant food," he growled, before leaving.

"Man, what crawled up your butt and died there?" Misato shot back, before she heared him leaving. She knew she shouldn't have said this about Rei. After that battle with the last Angel, Shinji had become very thin-skinned concerning such teasing from her side, so she should have expected this.

_Thank all Gods that I won't be there to recieve that fallout tomorrow, _she sighed in mental relief. At least this stupid thing had one positive aspect. But it still meant one instant food dinner for her, something she could have lived without.

Shinji meanwhile was relatively silent, while walking with Rei to school.

He was thinking about what Misato had told him yesterday about Second Impact, that everything he had been told about it had been utterly wrong. The truth had been far more disturbing. She had told him that the first Angel had been found in Antarctica by an expedition. Something had went gravely wrong when they had meddled with it, resulting in the Angel running amok, exploding in the end with so much force, that it literally pulverised the ice cap, the radiation of the detonation turning the south pole into a death zone.

Shinji had noticed that Misato had given him quite a detailed description of the events, while it seemed difficult for her to talk about it. When he had asked her about it, she said that it was very personal, but one day she would share this with him.

Finally he couldn't hold back a question. "Rei, you knew the real reason for Second Impact?"

"Yes, but it was classified, so I was forbidden to tell you," she stated, surprised that he seemed to know the truth about this now. "Why do you ask?"

"Misato told me about it. To think that an Angel could be this powerful to vaporise the whole ice cap in seconds...I hope that Angel had been completely destroyed by this, or we could be in quite some trouble..." he explained to her.

"Everything I know and can say is, that the explosion completely vaporised the first Angel. So there is no danger," she answered him. And it was the truth, she really only knew that Adam must have been totally destroyed when he went critical, his only remains now what was in useage from project E.

"Good..." Shinji then went back to being silent.

Rei wondered about Shinji's strange behaviour. Usually he was very talkative with her, trying to make her become more open. That he now had went almost entirely silent was...unusual. So unusual that it slightly disturbed Rei.

* * *

_...at school, lunch break..._

"I still wonder how you managed to get through to her. I mean, Ayanami had said next to nothing in all the time she was here. And shortly after you come, bang, she starts to talk with you, and even starts to give answers to the questions asked in class. Man, the teacher looked like he almost had a stroke, when she wanted to give the answer," Toji told Shinji, while the three of them enjoyed their lunch under a big tree in the school yard.

Rei had to go to NERV, as she had gotten a call from Dr. Akagi that a certain procedure had been rescheduled to today, as they had to move some appointments around. Normally, Rei would sit next to Shinji, listening to all the coversation while on ocassion saying something. Of course, since she was missing, Kensuke and Toji used the opportunity to make her the topic of their lunch talk.

"Yeah, what is your secret? The Ikari charm that can thaw up even the most reserved girl?" Kensuke added, while taking a bite from his sandwich. "Old Casanova..."

"It's nothing like that!" Shinji defended himself. "I'm the only the first who finally managed to come through to her. You won't believe some of the things I've witnessed. She really needs help so that she can learn to live a normal life."

"Only that? Come on," Toji asked.

"Would you please let it rest?" Shinji demanded.

"Ok, all right..." Kensuke said, not wanting to anger his friend. He saw Hikari walking across the yard to her friends, starting to talk with them. Both, Shinji and Kensuke noticed Toji following her with his eyes, his features softening slightly. "You again look after the Class Rep, Toji," Kensuke reminded him.

"No, I don't" Toji denied.

"Oh man, come on Toji, that crush of yours can't be healthy to be held in," Kensuke continued.

"How do you know about that?" Then Toji realized that he had just spilled the beans about something he had tried to hold secret. "Oh damn...you mean you didn't actually knew?" he wailed.

"I do know now for sure, but as your friend I of course saw the signs, so I guessed. Hell, Toji, why the Class Rep of all people? You could have picked one of the bimbos, they are surely devoted to you, yet you want the girl who is hardest to court. You really want to go on a mission impossible," Kensuke said, shaking his head.

"I don't want to have anything to do with these brainless girls... Hikari is different. She had always treated me normal, and I actually like that she isn't so...girly. But..." Toji looked down, obviously starting to feel depressed.

"Toji, is everything all right?" Shinji asked in concern.

Toji looked to Shinji, his eyes revealing a sadness he hadn't seen before. "She has no idea. I can't bring it over myself to even get her better known. -sigh- I wish I wouldn't be such a coward. You wonder why I never before was caught looking after her, right?"

"Uhm, yes. Why didn't the other girls notice you looking after Hikari?" Shinji asked.

Toji looked back down. "You see...I'm so scared that Hikari could notice me, that I actually look after so many females that everyone else thinks I could never have interest in her... I guess you think I'm stupid and a coward..."

"If you don't try, she will never know and think your'e a playboy," Kensuke reminded him.

"You think I don't know this?" Toji answered, sad.

Shinji stayed quiet. He had noticed several times Hikari looking to Toji, but had payed no attention to it. But now on the other hand... Shinji shook his head. He had no idea if he could even do anything about it. Paired with his confused emotions about Rei, it was more than enough to ruin any kind of good mood.

Kensuke saw that Shinji's mood started to go into the more negative area, so he decided to change the topic. "Hey, Shinji, must be great to live with Misato. I mean, after all what I heared, she must be quite a cool woman."

Shinji snorted. "You don't know her. While she is good at her job, at home she is homeless. She is totally lazy, a hopeless slob and I think without me, she would live in a huge trash box. There is nothing cool about this."

"Man, you are dense...that means she shows you a side of hers she otherwise hides. She sees you as family. If even I get that, and I'm really not expert in such things, you must me more clueless than the CIA," Kensuke groaned, shaking his head at such ignorance.

"I never thought about it like this," Shinji realized.

"Hey, Shini. Please, can you get in a good word with Misato that she allows me to film the EVA? I have to get that on tape," Kensuke almost begged, trying to use the situation.

"No. You can try to ask her personally, but take three guesses how successful this will be."

Kensuke started to sulk. "That's so unfair! My only tape got ruined, and they don't allow me to make a new one? Censorship!"

Toji only groaned when seeing this display. Kensuke sometimes could be really immature when it came to such things. "Man, you really have problems..."

* * *

_...deep within NERV..._

Dr. Akagi escorted Rei to the special room, where they would make the backup copy. After what had happened with the fifth Angel, the Commander had ordered that every two weeks now, an up-to-date copy had to be made, just in case. Normally Ritsuko would have done this on a weekend, but now with that presentation near, they had to reschedule to today. Finally, they arrived in the room.

"Rei, you know what to do," she said, and already wanted to go to the controls, when she saw Rei hesitate. Rei was looking at the transparent tube in the middle of the room. "Rei?" Rei hesitating was unusual.

The girl apruptly looked to her. "Is it possible to make parts of the tube opaque and install a dressing screen beside it?" she suddenly asked.

Ritsuko blinked. That was totally unlike Rei. Rei had up to now no qualms of stripping in front of her and the Commander, before floating in the tube for next to two hours. The request was really unusual. "Yes, but why?"

"I was told that nudity is a very private thing. Being exposed like this makes me...uncomfortable." It looked like it had cost her quite some willpower to say it out in the open. She had enough time to think about what she had been told about this, and after several close calls with Shinji, she did understand the basic idea behind it.

Ritsuko was surprised. Two months ago, she would have thought that the end was near, as Rei had been totally useless for life at that time, nudity didn't bother her. Realizing that this had to be due to the Third Child, she congratulated herself that her plan had worked. "And I qualify for these criteria?" she asked, reminding Rei that a)she was a doctor, and b)the same gender as her.

"No, but the Commander does," Rei added.

_So she doesn't want to be seen in the nude by him? Can only be good for me..._ "All right, I will order the changes to be made. But since the Commander isn't here now, strip down, so that we can get started."

Rei did as told, preparing herself mentally for the two hours long procedure.

* * *

_...at a park, after school..._

_Poor Toji...he only has eyes for Hikari, but he really tries to conceal it by him looking after everything female. And what should I do about Rei? Damn, I start to feel attracted to her, any yet I have no idea how to act around her, now that I became aware of it. My life is screwed... _Shinji thought, while aimlessly walking through the public park of Tokyo-3 after school was over.

Ignoring all these happy people around him, he sat down on a bench. Looking over the small lake in the park, Shinji wondered how in a matter of a few days his life became so much more complicated. He wished he knew how to help his friend. But even more he wondered how the hell he should handle his own situation. He really liked Rei. He like her a lot. She was odd, all right, but that wasn't her fault, and he could see that she was a good person at heart. She also was a good looking girl.

But could she take it wrong? He had no idea if she thought the same way about him. Shinji sighed. He had no idea that matters of the heart could be that complicated. The grown-up always made it look easy, but it surely wasn't.

"What the hell should I do now?" Shinji wondered aloud.

"Hey, you look like you need a little cheer-up."

Looking up, Shinji saw a man in jogging clothes standing before him. He guessed that he was in his late thirties. His black hair was bound into a ponytail and he looked like he worked out regulary. He almost seemed to radiate confidence. Shinji had no idea why this stranger even bothered with him. "I'm not sad...I only have no idea what to do now."

The man looked at him for some seconds, before sitting down beside him. "Sometimes it helps to talk with someone who is unbiased, so let's give it a try."

Shinji doubted it, but it couldn't hurt either. "You see...there is my friend, who really likes that girl. But he is scared to make the first step to get closer to her. And I, I have that friend who I start to feel more for than just friendship, but I have no idea how to act around her now. Especially since she is so removed from a social life."

"Ahh...matters of the heart," the man sighed, "I had my share of these, in my youth. I think I can give you some advice. For your friend I guess trying to give him enough courage to make the first contact with that girl is the best way. He has no idea what she feels and baby steps by getting her known better should be the first thing. Once he gets over this shyness, the rest should come on itself... And you I guess don't want to accidently lose a friend?"

"Well...yeah. Rei means much to me, but I don't want to give her the wrong impression," Shinji admitted.

The man shook his head. "Trust me, you don't want to walk into that no-man's land of no decision. You need to get clear with it soon, or it will haunt you. I think being honest to her is best. I made the error long ago not to say what I thought or wanted to a girl. She got the wrong idea about me and I almost lost her friendship as a result. Thankfully we finally managed to clear things up, and now she is happily married with a friend of mine who used to work in her restaurant."

"You seem to have had much girl problems in your past," Shinji realized after that statement.

"Yes...I was somewhat naive. I had the same problem as your friend, only worse. I openly denied my feelings, and that quite vulgar. My wife had the same problem. Thankfully we both got around and now I'm happily married with children..." He seemed thoughtful for a second. "You know, I could talk so much about my life... But it became quite boring after Second Impact, which literally destroyed all enemies and rivals, simply washed them away. Of my surroundings, only my parents, my wife's family and the husband of her oldest sister survived..." the man mused.

"Must have been quite a life..."

"Yes, I..." **-beeep- beeep-** "My cell phone. A moment. Hello?...Ah, hello Akane, how are you?... No, I will return home to Tokyo-2 this evening, I looked at it but everything was already cold as a stone...The dojo is booked out?...That is good... Good, I love you too. Bye!" he then closed his cell phone.

"Was that your wife?" Shinji asked him.

"Yes, quite a firecracker she still is, even after several childbirths. I'm sorry, I remembered that I have to go, if I want to catch the train home. I hope I helped you with my experience," he apologized.

"I think you did. Thank you."

"Then I'm on my way...Take care of yourself." He then started to jog away.

Shinji only now remembered that he had never asked the man for his name. But maybe it wasn't actually that important. Starting to walk away, he heard a splash and a feminine cry of "why me?" in the background. But he payed it no heed. He was already too busy with thinking while he walked home.

* * *

_...Rei's apartment, near dinner time..._

Rei looked a little worn out, but that didn't stop her from watching, while Shinji showed her some of the mysteries of cooking, while preparing her dinner. The real teaching would only start at the weekend, when both them would have more time for this. It was a little amusing how she seemed to analyze every one of his moves.

Rei for her part felt a little weak. After the memory-backup procedure, she always was a little weak on her legs. But at least the two hours in the tube had given her enough time for thinking. Shinji's behaviour had been very strange. Almost as if he was trying to avoid her. But what made even less sense was, that now he seemed to have returned to his previous behaviour. Rei couldn't make any sense of this.

"Rei, I'm sorry," Shinji suddenly said.

She looked up, surprised. "For what?" she asked him.

"For being such a jerk towards you since yesterday evening. I was unsure about myself and took it out on you. I hope you can forgive me," Shinji apologized to her.

Rei looked is if she didn't understand, but then said, "I accept the apology. May I inquire what caused this?"

Shinji turned off the stove, before looking into her eyes. "Rei, when you asked me why you are my first female friend and how it makes you special...I realized something, and I feared you could understand it wrong, resulting in me hurting your feelings. However, this afternoon I fianally realised that being honest to you about this is the only option."

Shinji took Rei's hands into his own. "Rei, you mean a lot to me. You are a wonderful person who just had been denied what life offers. I have to admit it, I feel attracted to you. I do not know where this will lead, but I can't deny it anymore," Shinji admitted to her.

Rei blinked, she hadn't expected this. She felt again warm around her heart when hearing this confession. It was a very pleasant feeling. "You make me feel warm around my heart. Does this mean you are my..." She paused, trying to find the right word, "...my boyfriend?"

"Only if you want to be, Rei. I won't force you if you don't want."

"Then I will be your girlfriend, althrough I have to read about what comes with this," she said, finally. Shinji wasn't concerned with the way she worded it, that simply was the way she did it. And it seemed the feeling was mutual.

"I know even less...I only know that I want to spend time with you, to get you known better than I have until now. What do you think, should I again show you how to have fun tomorrow?" he asked her, relieved that Rei seemed to return the attraction.

"That would be...good. Can we try what a boyfriend and girlfriend are supposed to do in such occassions?" Rei asked him, looking a little unsure.

"Why not? There is this one place I want to show you." Looking at the cooling off pot on the stove, he added, "But for now we should eat, it now smells good."

And while these two enjoyed a good dinner, Misato was complaining in her own kitchen how unfair the world was, while chewing listlessly on her instant food, which she had managed to screw up. Whining that Shinji can't do this, she realized that without any beer to flush it down, it tasted simply horrible, even to her.

"That's not fair!" she whined.

Pen-Pen only looked at her annoyed, before retreating into his fridge. He had no desire to share the wrath of the ruined instant food after several times.

* * *

_...the next day..._

School was over, and Shinji, Toji, Rei and Hikari were busy with cleaning the classroom. Kensuke had already taken off, saying that there was a new hand-weapon for the EVA arriving, and he simply **had** to film it, while it would be delivered with the fright train.

Shinji had several things on his mind. Misato was gone for the day. It had been the first time he had seen her in her formal NERV-uniform. She had said that she and Dr. Akagi had to attend to a presentation of a rival's counterproduct to EVA in Tokyo-1, and that she propably wouldn't be back until the evening.

And then there was of course him talking with Toji during the lunch break. He had carefully explained to him, that the only way he can ever know if Hikari felt something for him would be, to get her better known. He had used the entire lunch break to slowly build up Toji's confidence, hopefully giving him enough courage to talk with Hikari without either freezing up, or getting into jock-mode.

Shinji hoped that it was enough, because Toji still hadn't made his move. Looking over to him, he noticed that Toji seemed to look unsure.

Toji meanwhile was wrestling with himself. After all the stuff Shinji had told him during the lunch break, he really wanted to start getting Hikari better known. And the first step would be to actually talk with her, and calling her by name, not her title or fleeing into sarcasm. Using her title was automatically putting up a wall between them. But Toji was still unsure if she even would acknowledge him.

But then he remembered Shinji's words: he can't know until he would start to hang out with her, if she was interested in him, or not. And doing nothing wouldn't get him anywhere. And when he saw Shinji give him a _'don't-you-screw-this-up-now-after-all-what-I- did-for-you-look'_, he knew he should really do it.

Seeing that they were about to be done with cleaning, he pulled all his courage together, and approached her. "Hikari?" he asked.

Hikari looked up. Had Toji actually called her by name? He had never done so before. It had been always either 'Class Rep', or some kind of sarcastic description of her. Few of the boys in the class had ever called her by name. Of course she knew that it was mostly her own fault, as she had gained quite a reputation as the 'strict Class Rep'. She sometimes regretted this, as it seriously hampered her interaction with her class mates, especially the boys.

Since he used her first name, she decided that she would do so, too. "Yes, Toji? How can I help you?"

Toji became nervous, she had actually used his first name. Biting down his nervousness, he tried to stay cool. "Shinji and Ayanami want to go to the Crown Arcade after we are done. And...uhh..I want to ask.., since I planned to join them, if you would like to come with us?"

_Is he asking me to hang out with him? _Hikari wondered.

Sure, she had given him looks while she was sure he wasn't watching, but he had always been such a macho, and she almost had resigned to fate that he would probably never notice her, as there were so many other girls available to him.

"That...that sounds good. Just let us finish, and we can go," she almost stammered, not used at being in the role of the girl that actually is asked out by a boy.

"That let's do it! The faster we are done, the better!" Toji said entusiastically, swinging his broom back into action. _Oh man, she actually wants to spend time with me!_

Hikari couldn't help but to think that this afternoon could become interesting.

Shinji returned to his cleaning of the blackboard, not even bothering to hide a smile. Obviously his effords to give Toji enough confidence to actually ask Hikari had been successful. The rest would be now up to him what to make of it.

Finally the four of them were done, and made their way to the Crown Arcade, which was located in the inner city. Thankfully, Shinji discovered a new ability of his NERV-card. He could also buy subway tickets for others with it. So he was able to spare Toji and Hikari the long way by foot and the subway fare.

Rei wasn't the most talkative, but that was normal for her, and Shinji knew that for now she simply hadn't anything to say. Hikari on the other hand seemed happy with some smalltalk. It became clear that essentially they knew next to nothing about Hikari beside her role as the Class Rep, and Hikari knew only little about their lives outside of school.

Entering the Crown Arcade, they saw that already it was well visited. Boys and girls of all ages enjoyed the video- and other games offered to enjoy their free time. Shinji excused himself, saying that he wanted to show Rei around, so Toji and Hikari were on their own.

The two of them had gone through an game of airhockey and darts, and were now busy with a game where they had to shoot with lightguns, when Hikari decided to ask Toji what was on her mind. "You seem so different than you are in school. In school you always are such a jock."

"To be honest, that's what many think of me, so it became my mask," Toji replied, downing an enemy. "The only drawback is that it makes getting friends quite hard."

"Yes...I can relate. Almost everyone thinks of me as the _'Evil Class Rep'_ and stays away on arm-length," Hikari added with a sigh.

"I know...I really hesitated before I asked you. But you are different now, too. In class you are always so strict... I start to like this other 'you'."

"And I like that normal-you, too." Shooting down the last enemy, Hikari noticed that while talking, they had managed to reach a new highscore. "Looks like us talking gave us luck."

Toji couldn't help but to enjoy her company. "Want a soda before we try the battle-bots simulator? All this had made me quite thirsty."

"Certainly."

Sitting down at one of the tables in one of the side rooms, both enjoyed their soda, while talking relaxed. "You know, it was quite a while since I last enjoyed myself so much. I must thank you for inviting me along."

"You know, a smile from you would be thanks enough." Seeing Hikari do so, Toji couldn't help but to add, "Cute..."

Being unused to such compliments, a little blush covered her cheeks. "Thanks..."

Finishing their drinks, Toji and Hikari wanted to see, how they would do when being pitched against each other in a game of battle-bots.

* * *

_...Horaki home, some hours later..._

_Please don't let Kodama being home... Nozomi, daddy, even mom, but not Kodama... _Hikari pleaded while unlocking the door to their house. She really hoped that her older sister Kodama wasn't home, or she would hear things she had no desire to hear. She really disliked some of her older sisters' habits, and if she caught her coming home hours late...

Locking the door behind herself and taking off her shoes, she already thought that she had escaped this fate, when suddenly... "Hey, sis! Looks like you are several hours late." With a sigh, Hikari looked to the door to the living room, seeing her older sister Kodama, 18 years old, standing there, grinning. "I wonder how that did happen..."

"It's none of your business, Kodama." Hikari had no desire to tell her older sister that she had a relaxing afternoon by hanging around with a nice boy.

However, Kodama seemed to see right through her. "Oh, then it must be a boy. What, my by-the-book sister finally got her act together?" Kodama of course knew from hearing their mom talking, that Hikari had, while having managed to get good grades and a position of respect, only little friendly interaction with her class-mates, beside two or three girls. So she enjoyed seeing her sister flustered over some boy.

"We only had some fun at the arcade. And I'm not that kind of girl. You on the other hand change boyfriends as often as you change your panties."

"Oh, I'm hurt...Well, I have a date now. But I can't wait to see how this will go on." With a smile, Kodama left Hikari alone.

Hikari wonder what gods she had pissed off to deserve this.

* * *

_...Suzuhara home..._

Toji wasn't surprised that his father wasn't home. However, he found Kasumi in her wheelchair in the living room, reading one of her magazines. She looked up when she saw her brother coming home quite later than usual.

"Toji? Has something come up?" she asked him.

"I only had some good hours. Wish I had done this sooner..." he said very statisfied.

Kasumi started to giggle. "Something to do with this Hikari?"

"Wha...?" Toji started to blush. "Where did you hear this name?"

"You fell asleep quite often when watching me at my sickbed, and you talk in your sleep. The name Hikari came up a lot. It's a girl? Oh, my big brother is growing up..." she continued to giggle in best girl-manner. Toji felt stupid that his little sister could get at him like this, there was nothing to be ashamed about. But it simply was like this, younger silbrings tended to do things like that.

* * *

_...Misato's apartment..._

A very relaxed Shinji walked down the corridor to Misato's apartment, after having escorted Rei to her own apartment down the corridor. They hadn't even noticed that they had spent hours at the arcade, until Hikari and Toji had told them that it should be time to get home. Shinji couldn't help but to smile.

For one, Toji now seemed more comfortable sround Hikari than before this day, and Hikari seemed to have really enjoyed getting out of her stiff-mode she had held up around them. And while Hikari had made it clear that she still won't tolerate any shit while in her function as the class representative, she had said that this had been her first good afternoon in quite a while, and she hoped to come together with them again soon.

And then there was Rei. Shinji had managed to get her closer to the concept of fun. As far as he had seen, Rei started to slowly enjoy doing things just for the fun's sake. It would be still quite some time, but she had admitted to him, that it was very different to her usual routine, and had asked what else a boyfriend and girlfriend do together in their free time.

Entering his home, only to see an tired looking Misato nursing her coffe, still in her formal uniform. "Oh, hello Shinji," she greeted him.

"Hello Misato, already back? How did that presentation go? Wasn't it something about a weapon to fight against the Angels?" he asked her, curios how it had went.

Misato laughed, putting down her cup. "It was hilarious. Imaginge this, they presented a humanoid, goofy-looking robot named Jet Alone, who they thought could fight the Angels. Man, they were so full of themselves. But when the demonstration itself started, the JA flipped out, and destroyed its hangar. After that it stomped on all the expensive helicopters of politicans and industrialists as if they were bugs, before kicking the cerntral building several times. As the great finale, it bashed itself on the head several times before shutting down, falling over like a puppet whose strings were cut."

"Ouch, that must have been quite a demonstration!" Shinji winced, while surpressing a laugh. "Must have really embarrassed them."

"They decided to pull the plug on the JA project after this. Now it will only be useful as a surface for the storehouse dust. Good for us that this trashcan was a disappointment. Means that we finally get the funding we need," Misato concluded.

"What I didn't get is, how did they plan to get with that thing through an AT-field? Only an EVA can do this, right?" Shinji asked her.

"Exacto. Despite them knowing about it, they tried to put it off as a minor point. Man, the first time that trashcan would have been sent into battle, the Angel would have simply scrapped it. But try to tell this people who only have created their project to spite NERV," Misato explained. She herself wouldn't cry over this. After how arrogant this baffoons had acted towards her and Ritsuko on the presentation, she felt that this served them only right.

"Well, as long as I can do my job..."

"Still instant food?" Misato asked him, hopeful that he would take pity on her. She wanted to end this exciting day on a good note. Hopefully Shinji would agree.

Shinji took a look at her tired eyes, witness how hard this day had been on her, then took pity on her. "All right, I will make us something." Whistling, he went to work to make them something fast made.

"You seem quite cheerful today," Misato observed.

"It's because I had a good day with Rei and two of my friends. I helped Toji to get his courage together, too. And I finally managed to show Rei how to have fun. It was quite an eye-opener for her," Shinji told her relaxed, while putting their dinner on the stove.

Misato knew better than to tease him concerning Rei. Not if she wanted her punishment to be renewed by Shinji again going into strike. But it was good that he had managed to reach out to Rei. Now she only hoped that the two of them could work together with Asuka as well, when she would arrive in a little over two weeks.

But knowing her character, especially towards boys, she doubted it.

* * *

_Walking into the school, Rei felt, that something was amiss, but she couldn't put a finger on what exactly it was. She was her usual, stonic self while walking down the corridor to class. The other pupils she met on the corridor looked strangely an her, but she ignored them. Finally she arrived at class._

_Sitting down, she noticed, that the class was looking strange at her, too, while Shinji had become beet-red. Rei still didn't know what exactly was wrong. She would ask him later, because the teacher was entering, with Hikari barking her usual commands._

_"Rei Ayanami?" the teacher asked._

_Getting up, as it was custom, she answered. "Yes?"_

_"The school regulations don't accept this as a substitute for the school uniform," the teacher informed her._

_Rei again saw the whole class looking at her, the boys in lust, the girls in annoyance. Looking down she finally realised what was wrong: She had went to school totally naked! She started to blush at being so exposed, when the classroom faded away, leaving only Shinji behind._

_"Shinji...?" she asked._

_"You look beautiful...Maybe you want to have more fun?"_

_Rei's blush deepened, but this time not because of embarrassment. She literally felt him looking her up and down while she had her eyes closed. And she couldn't help but to understand the word "fun" in quite an interesting way._

_"First Child."_

_Rei's eyes snapped open. That wasn't Shinji. Instead of Shinji, there was now the Commander, looking coldly at her. His looks burned like acid on her bare skin. She tried to use her hands to cover herself, but her arms were like glued to her sides. The more she tried to move them, the more impossible it became._

_"You will be replaced."_

* * *

Rei awoke startled. It took her some seconds to realize that she was in her bed, holding the bed sheet. It took her longer to realise what had just happened. She had awakened from a dream that had turned bad. Rei needed some seconds to realise that it had been a dream, as it had felt so real to her. To imagine that it had been all in her head. 

Looking at the bedside clock, Rei saw that it was just after midnight. Lying back down, Rei tried to come to terms with what had just happened. The events of the last days had manifested themselves in a quite bizzare manner in her head. To even think, walking into school naked! What however really made her think were her reactions to the two Ikaris. She had felt very uncomfortable and had tried to cover herself up while looking at the Commander. But she hadn't bothered to do so with Shinji.

Rei didn't know what to make of this. She only knew now that she indeed was able to have dreams. Hopefully they would be nicer next time.

* * *

_...Gendo's office, several days later..._

"It went everything as planned. All of the extra defense budget from the UN will go to NERV, together with a significant raise of the base budget. Good work, Dr. Akagi," the Commander said, not moving much.

"It was really no problem to reprogram the Jet Alone to do this, their security was really bad. The plug is now pulled on that project and it will set dust in a storehouse. We proved that we are the only ones able to deal with the Angel problem, so it won't put any stones in our path. It went perfectly, exactly as you had planned," Dr. Akagi replied. She wasn't very proud of using such dirty tactics, but it was for the greater good.

"Yes...everything is again going according to our plans," Gendo agreed. "The only competitor is now Project T, and they are not intended to rival us, so we can ignore them."

"Project T would do great in the city defense," Ritsuko suggested.

"Possibly... However, since this project is run by the government directly, we have no way to have access to it. But it doesn't matter." Gendo looked to Dr. Akagi. "Today...21:00. And make sure to be not seen."

"Good.," she replied.

Gendo watched her leaving. He didn't feel that he was cheating Yui, as this was only to bind Dr. Akagi to him, so that she would stay loyal to him until he could bring his wife back. He was sure, Yui would understand. So he didn't feel guilty in the slightest.

Opening a secret drawer in his desk, he held a photo of Yui in his hands. He had made it during a beautiful summer day a year prior to hjer disapperance. He looked intensely at it. "This is how I always remember you... Surrounded by summer, forever young, forever beautiful. Sleep well, my love. The monsters who keep you from me will soon learn...that nothing will stop me from being with you again."

_**to be continued...**_

_**Next Episode:**_

_**"Gaghiel"**_


	8. Gaghiel

I will say these things in advance: I have absolutely no rights at NGE, but you should have already known that.

The story itself is basically a re-telling of the original storyline, but twisted into my way. While at the beginning there seem to be only few divigances, it will become more with each episode. The people, their motivations and the backgrounds are while holding true to the basic layout, changed at my imagination in many details, so canon-purists now are allowed to flame me.

NOTE: I hate both, the ending of the TV series, and how End of Evangelion turned out. So don't expect any of those outcomes.

This will be Shinji/Rei. Finally enter Asuka. And the battle with Gaghiel is quite different...and shorter.

For all the work I put into this, I would like to get reviews. I will always try to respond to every review I get.

* * *

**Chapter 7: Gaghiel**

Walking into the room, Gendo wanted to observe the memory backup process as he usually did. It was a way to reassure him that everything was on plan. He was however surprised, and stopped, when he saw the changes that had been made to the room. Sure, there was Dr. Akagi manning the controls, and Rei was floating in the tube. But that was where the strange changes started.

Instead of the totally clear tube, the plastic from just under Rei's shoulders down to her knees had become opaque. Apart from the shadow outline of her body, nothing was visible in that area. And beside the tube a dressing screen had been installed, with Rei's clothes neatly hung over its top. Gendo needed some seconds, before regaining his composure.

"What is this?" he asked Dr. Akagi sharp.

She only now had noticed him. "The First Child requested these changes. She was concerned about her modesty."

_Concerned about her modesty? Since when does she have modesty? _"Explain. How did this happen?" he demanded to know, finding Rei's behaviour very strange. He had never formed her to have modesty. And despite him having an suspiction how this had happened, he wanted to hear it himself.

_Concerned that you lose your little doll, Gendo? _she thought, but of course didn't say this aloud. "I do not know the details. But the Third Child most likely explained modesty to her, and she adapted this thinking."

Gendo stood thinking in front of the tube. He never really had thought about it, but having her floating naked in front of him had also been a sort of power over her. That she now had created this thin wall between them was another sign that his son wasn't the best influence on Rei. But Rei was still totally loyal to him and the cause, so he had no reason to interfere...for now.

Rei, who had listened to all this, held her eyes closed. The Commander watching her...after her first dream she hadn't looked forward to this moment. Despite her modesty being secure, she still felt so horribly exposed in front of him. Despite her not understanding many things, she now knew clearly why nakedness was avoided, as she still had this sick feeling in the pit of her stomach, and this wasn't because of the accidently swallowed LCL.

No, this feeling told her why modesty was so important, as she really felt uneasy right now, even with the modifications. She tried to think of other things or the feeling would get even stronger. Too bad that Shinji wasn't in Tokyo-3 right now, but this couldn't be helped now.

* * *

_...out on the sea..._

"A Mig-55 D transport helicopter! Never thought I would even fly in one of these! Wow!" Kensuke exclaimed in joy while filming every moment of it. The others decided to leave him alone. When Kensuke was in his military-geek-mode, it was best to let him live it out.

The others where Shinji, Toji and Hikari. Misato had told Shinji in the geofront that they would have to transport the cable for Unit-02 to the ship convoy, the big container the helicopter was carrying, and she had the idea to ask, if he wanted to invite some friends along for it, since it wasn't forbidden. (But she knew should something happen, it would be her head that was at stake) Since it was a Saturday with no school, he had asked Toji and Kensuke if they wanted to come. Toji in return had asked if Hikari could come. Hikari had been excited, since she never had been on a ship, and Misato saw no reason to leave her out of it. And so it came, that beside herself she had four 14-years old on board.

But still, Shinji was a little down in his mood. Oh yes, he couldn't wait to meet the Second Child, but he missed someone at his side. "I wish Rei would be here..."

Misato knew why he said this. Shinji and Rei and become good friends. An odd couple, but nonetheless a good one. And of course he had asked if she could come with them. "Shinji, please, you know that the Commander said no. And since he has the last word on her, there was nothing I could do."

"It's still unfair..." Shinji growled. Why had his father forbidden Rei to come along at all? Shinji felt that it had to do with the fact that it had been him who had asked, and his father seemed to have something against him spending extra time with Rei. So his father had used this to show him who the boss is. "Damn you, old man. Why do you want to make me more miserable than you already have?" he gowled to no one in particular.

"He really cares a lot for her," Hikari whispered toToji. "But he also seems to hate his father."

"Well, his father really did some very bad things to him, and Shinji won't forget that. But I think we should talk about other things... How do you like my cap? I brought it yesterday. Doesn't it look cool?" Toji asked her, showing off the article in question.

Hikari wondered why boys had such a fascination with baseball caps, but decided stay silent about it. "It is nice, but nothing out of the ordinary."

Toji looked a little disappointed. "Oh, all right." He wondered if he still could get a refund on the cap after they were back in Tokyo-3. "Hey, Shinji, what's in that backback?" he then asked, noticing that Shinji was wearing a backback.

Shinji shifted the backpack. "Dr. Akagi gave me this while I was in the geofront today. It's the prototype of my new plugsuit. She made some modifications I asked her for. She told me to test it, but then Misato told me what we will do, so I had no chance test it yet."

"And why do you carry it around?" Hikari asked him, curious.

Shinji rolled his eyes. "Ok, I forgot to put my backpack into the locker, all right? I only noticed it after we were already on the way."

"Holy shit, look down there!" Kensuke suddenly said in total joy, "That must be most of the UN pacific fleet! Destroyers, cruisers, battleships and even several aircraft carriers! And look there, the 'Over the Rainbow', the biggest carrier in the world! The pride of the UN forces!" Kensuke seemed to get extreme pleasure from this gathering of war material, far more extreme than Toji had ever witnessed before.

"That thing is only a old wreck, ready for the museum," Misato said off-hand, not impressed with the huge ship. No wonder, when you work with huge mechas every day. "A wonder that it's even swimming..."

"That's quality work! Only pre-Second Impact could have created such!" Kensuke retorted, filming every second of their approach on the carrier.

Leaning on the railing of the command tower, a red-haired girl watched the approach of the helicopter.

Asuka had been notified in advance that Misato and the Third Child would arrive. She couldn't help but be curious what kind of boy he was. She had of course watched the footage from the last Angel battle. She wasn't impressed. He only had to pull the trigger, nothing more, and the First Child had been almost wasted. That combined with the other two battles only reinforced her belief that Shinji was an amateur.

_Of course he will never reach my level... _Very sure of herself, Asuka went to the stairs. If he was a disappointment, it would be no loss for her. And if he was interesting enough, her yellow sundress would be good to show off her chocolate side.

"Oh yes! Yes! Look at this, all these radar antennas and satellite recievers, the jet planes and helicopters!" Kensuke started to sound as if he had an neverending orgasm. Filming everything and everyone. The crew on deck looked at him in wonder, having no idea where this strange boy had come from. "Oh boy, that's one of the best days in my life!"

Toji and Hikari could only shake their heads at this display.

Misato on the other hand looked a little concerned to Shinji. "You look a little pale. Is this your first time on a ship?" she asked him.

"Yeah...I guess I need to get used to it, that's all. Give me a minute, all right?" Shinji waved it off. His words however were quite untrue, as he felt that his stomach wanted to disagree with him.

"All right..." Leaving Shinji alone, Misato walked over to the others. Seeing the scene in front of her, she wondered what the hell was going on. There was Asuka, standing on Toji's cap, while Toji tried to get it out from under her foot with no success. She had no idea what the hell was going on, nor why Asuka insisted on a sundress on a windy flightdeck (Even Hikari had been wise enough to wear pants).

"Misato! It's been a while!" Asuka greeted her happily.

Misato couldn't help but to smile. Asuka had grown up a little since last time. "Do my eyes play tricks on be, or have you gained some height?"

"Yep! And I also have gained some curves," Asuka answered, proud of her body. She couldn't help but to enjoy all the attention she got.

"May I introduce, our Second Child, Asuka Langely Soryu," Misato introduced her. Sadly exactly at this moment a gush of wind blew Asuka's skirt upwards, and...

**-SLAP!- -SLAP!-**

"What was that for!" Toji growled, he and Kensuke now sporting each an angry red handprint on their faces. It was bad enough that he had been granted a show of her panties, but this went too far for him. It wasn't that he had enjoyed the show. Hikari looked quite embarrassed at this situation, thanking the Kami that she had decided to wear pants today.

"Payment for the good view of course! Or do you think that this was a freebie?" Asuka returned, now with venom in her voice.

Toji wanted to give her an answer that she would remember, in his own way, but then he felt Hikari's hand on his shoulder, and he calmed down. He wouldn't make Hikari angry by losing his temper in front of her. "You got off easy! But I will remember that!" he hissed, before ignoring Asuka.

Asuka wondered where they had found this guy. Suddenly something occured to her. "Misato, please don't tell me that one of these two clowns is the Third Child!"

"No, he is...ah, there he comes..." Misato saw Shinji approaching their group, looking even paler than a minute ago. _Oh dear... _She hoped that nothing would happen, but remembered Murphy's Law. "This is the Third Child. Shinji Ikari."

_Hm, not bad looking. Not totally up to my standard, but close enough... _she thought, stepping closer for a better inspection.

Shinji however felt really sick. The movement of the big ship wasn't something he could tolerate. Seeing the red-haired girl in front of him, he was reminded of something horrible, of which he had no idea what it actually was. But this, combined with his sea-sickness, was enough for his stomach to give up the struggle to keep everything in.

**-wwwaaahhhhrrg-**

"OH VERDAMMT!" Asuka screamed, when Shinji suddenly had to throw up all over her sundress and shoes. She was too shocked to jump away. Behind her, Toji and Kensuke snickered at her unfortune, until Hikari gave them both a smack on the back of their heads, shouting that they shouldn't laugh about something like this.

Shinji coughed, while Asuka looked in horror at her vomit-plastered dress. "SAUEREI! WAS FÄLLT DIR EIN?" she finally screamed in German.

Shinji had no idea what she actually had said, while Misato knew it too well. "Sorry...I got seasick," Shinji tried to excuse himself, groaning what a great first impression he had made on the girl.

"You...you are disgusting!" Asuka finally screamed, before running off into a door in the command tower.

Hikari shook her head at her friend's misfortune. "Shinji, you better properly excuse yourself when she returns. That was really disgusting." However, it was clear that she expected him to do so, her hard eyes allowing no other way.

"Man...You pilot a forty meters Evangelion without problem, but you get sea-sick on a aircraft carrier in minutes?" Toji asked him.

Shinji had no idea what to answer on that.

Some minutes later they were on the bridge, with exception of Asuka who needed a quick shower and change of clothes. Misato was for now all business, while dealing with the Admiral and the Captain, handling him her NERV-card for identification.

Misato surpressed a wince while imagining how many things about her were written on that thing for everyone to read. She had been quite embarrassed when her previous card had become useless. Of course only then Ritsuko had told her that the new cards didn't any longer tolerate her habit of blackening her age, weight and measurements, forcing her to get a replacement card.

The Admiral was obviously not in a good mood when he returned the card to her. "Thanks for bringing even more children on board..." he grumbled in annoyance, looking sharply at Kensuke, who was barely held back by Toji in his entusiasm while filming the bridge.

"We will try to stay out of your way. We are thankful for the transportation of the unit. The specifications for the unit's power supply in case of emergency." With that she handled him the documents, trying to keep her cool. Quite difficult when the Admiral's only wish obviously was just to get rid of them.

"Activating this _TOY_ on _MY_ ship?" he snorted. "Forget it, I won't allow that! I think of it as a total waste of our time and money anyway that we have to escort a freight transport, regardless how much this thing had cost in production." His pride had been quite hurt when he had been ordered to this mission, and he would be glad to get hid of that thing, and its annoying pilot. Her, and her wise-ass guardian. He by now even doubted if the security council still had their minds together.

Misato could literally feel the hostility from the Admiral. There was really no love lost for NERV from him. Getting out of his way until they would arrive at port this evening seemed more and more like a good idea. "Sign this off, and we will take over the responsibility for the EVA," she finally offered, holding a document.

"Oh no, I don't think so. The sea is our jurisdictation. We are for now responsible for that thing, and we will only release it to you when we reach port," the Admiral made clear, showing who the boss on sea was. At least this was left to him.

"All right..." Misato really couldn't wait to get out of his vicinity. "But should an Angel attack, you know that an officer of NERV, I can take over command." Not that this impressed the Admiral, but at least it gave Misato the last word.

The Admiral had finally enough. "Ok, all of you, get the hell off my bridge! Especially this glasses wearing pest, before I keelhaul him!" They were only too eager to comply, finally leaving the navy personell alone, Kensuke especially fast after getting several shades paler.

"And these kindergarden children are supposed to save mankind? What a joke!" the Admiral groaned after they had left him and the Captain alone.

"Times are changing, what can we do? The security council puts all their hope into this robot-thing," the Captain said, looking to the big special freighter they were escorting with their fleet. "Still, what a waste. I wonder what they had thought when breeding out this brainchild?"

"This giant toy?" the Admiral snorted, glaring at the freighter, "They always cut our budget, but they burn billions for this shit? I can believe it!"

* * *

_...in the mess hall..._

"Hey Misato! I must introduce you to Mr. Kaji!" came the squealing voice of Asuka as soon as they had entered the mess hall. Misato dropped her papers when she heared this name. Looking at the man sitting at the table, she blinked... No dream... There, sitting at the table was the unshaven and relaxed man that had been her former boyfriend, Ryoji Kaji. Misato felt as if her stomach was twisting itself into a knot.

"Hello Misato. Nice to see you again," he greeted her.

"Who is Mr. Kaji?" Shinji asked, feeling a little better now.

Being confronted by her ex-boyfriend was bad enough. Him acting as if everything was still all right, that was even worse. "The king of machos, that he is!" Misato growled as an answer.

"What, you are so happy to see me again?"

"Excuse us a moment, but there will be things said that are nothing for children..." That said, Misato dragged Kaji out of the mess hall, before slamming the door shut, looking angry at him. "Now out with it! Why are you here?"

"I'm actually responsible for Asuka until we reach Japan. But why so angry?" Kaji played innocent, loving how Misato seemed to get angry at him for seemingly no reason at all.

"Don't play dumb! You know exactly why I can't stand your presence. And you have the nerve to act as if everything is still as it had been," Misato hissed, not any longer caring that she lost her composure in his presence.

Kaji couldn't help but to smile, she was still the same Misato he remembered. "What? You have a new boyfriend?"

"Hmpf!" Misato had enough. She needed some fresh air, far away from him. "Don't you dare to cross my path while we are on board! It's over between us for years, and I want it to stay that way!" That said she left fuming, hoping to cool off.

_Yes, she is still the same. Seems she still has a thing for me, otherwise she wouldn't be so agressive. Well, wait and see, I better won't push her too far. _Leaving for his cabin, Kaji decided that a little shut-eye before their arrival would be good.

Meanwhile in the mess hall, Asuka had started to grill Shinji after his apology for the incident on the flightdeck. "Apart from retching on other people, are you good for something else? I saw your battle recordings, you acted like a total amateur, would have never happened to me," she said in a way that showed off her huge ego.

Shinji noticed that his friends stayed silent. _Traitors... _"And what gives you the right to criticize my battle performance?"

"Easy, I'm a professional Evangelion pilot. I have trained my whole life for this, and I'm the best there is. My Unit-02 is totally superior to your prototype, and I'm sure they will phase you and your piece of junk out, as soon as I'm in Tokyo-3. What need do they have for a loser like you, when they have me? I'm better, EVA-02 is the superior model. Live with it." With that, she finished her monologue.

Having her nose so high, she didn't see that the monologue seemed to have bored the others, while Shinji looked disgusted. Shinji couldn't help but being repulsed by her behaviour so far. "So? You do it to be the best?"

"Of course!" Asuka couldn't help but to find this question irritating. She was oblivious to the fact, that the Third Child obviously had no respect for her. "I pilot EVA to be the best there is. And my synch-ratio of 71, achived after years of training, is proof that I'm the best and intend to stay it."

Shinji knew he shouldn't judge someone only after minutes, but he couldn't help but being disgusted by these statements. That she was doing it to feed her ego was, at least for him, clearly the wrong reason to pilot EVA. "I bet you are only a lot of hot air."

Asuka's eyes went wide when hearing this. **"WHAT?"**

"Yes, what is your record so far? I think you only used the simulator your whole life. Admit it, at the moment the battle record is 3:0 in my favor. And I don't do this for kicks or to inflate my ego." Shinji wouldn't get intimidated by her agressiveness. Most people who act overly agressive were often the most vulnerable ones, his uncle had told him. Shinji didn't want to snap at her, but he had it with her ego-trip.

Asuka couldn't believe it. "I will show you the error of your way." She then dragged Shinji along, not caring for what he said.

The others stayed behind. "Man, I don't want to meet her in the dark..." Kensuke finally said, thankful that only Shinji would recieve the full broadside now. "If there is a girl I never even want to date, it is her. She seems like the definition of 'ego'."

"I don't know, she had talked about nothing but her piloting... I think leaving everything related to it outside, she could be a nice girl to talk with," Hikari gave them to think. It somewhat reminded her of when she was in her Class Rep.-mode.

"I don't know, Hikari..." Toji also was glad that Asuka was gone. She was so annoying. "You really think that? I found how she acted really annoying. And you think it was all a front? Sorry, but I find this hard to believe."

Holding back a sigh, she couldn't help but to understand why Toji felt like this. Asuka had done a lot to irritate him already. But that didn't mean that she couldn't try to be friendly towards her. "I can't force you to like her. But please try to stay civil around her, all right?"

"Good, but I can't promise anything for sure."

Kensuke couldn't help but to snicker at this display. Hikari essentially had already managed to get Toji total submission. He sarcastically wondered how long it would be before Hikari would complain to him that he couldn't wear white and black socks mixed. Putting in a new memory stick into his camcorder, he decided to get more material for his private collection.

That was really the best day of his life, with exception of the red-haired she-devil.

* * *

_...further outside in the sea..._

Gaghiel wasn't known to be a thinker. His brothers and sisters pitied him because of all of them, he always was the least smart one, instinct replacing intellect. Basically even amog the Angels, he was a half-animal. Gaghiel himself however had never understood their pity for him, because he never knew his existence as any different and instinct was his life. Too much thinking only made him bored and gave him a headarche.

But at the moment he stood before a problem that even he understood. His father, according to the memories of his predecessors, was kept prisoner on land. Far away on land. And he understood that he as a water-dweller had little chance to actually reach his father. So now here he was, swimming aimlessly through the ocean, with no clue what to actually do.

He had just evaded collision with a whale, when suddenly his senses picked up something very faint. _**What that? Feel familiar... Father!**_

Gaghiel felt it, it was his father, out on sea! Granted, the feeling was very weak, but it was there. Gaghiel didn't waste any more useless thoughts on how his father had moved on sea. He felt his presence, and he would free them!

_**Father! I here...I come! **_With top speed, Gaghiel raced through the ocean towards the north, following the feeling.

* * *

_...UN-fleet, half an hour later..._

"It's red," Shinji commented, when seeing Unit-02. He wondered why he had even allowed Asuka to first drag him to a shuttle-helicopter and then on the freighter containing the new EVA. He felt something itching at the back of his mind when seeing the red EVA, but he couldn't get a hold on what it was. And he had no desire for many words, as he again felt the sea-sickness return.

"Not only that!" Asuka said, sounding like a teacher now while standing on the EVA's head. "Units 00 and 01 were only test and prototype models, but Unit-02 is the first production model. The first two can't be compared to it. Meaning that it is the first true EVA!"

Shinji felt like rolling his eyes. He already felt sick enough and all this posing of hers wasn't helping in the slightest. Asuka had to have quite an inflated opinion of herself and Shinji guessed that they had spoiled her as the only available pilot in Germany, causing her ego to go through the roof, making her end up as such a brat. Shinji winced when remembering that from now on he had to work together with her.

"Yeah, sure. And I'm the Pope..." Shinji dismissed it. Unit-01 had up to now never disappointed him, so he gave nothing on her boasting. "It takes more than an EVA to impress me. After all, I pilot one for almost two months now."

Asuka was disappointed. She had hoped to really impress him, and now he reacted like that? Her opinion of Shinji Ikari had just dropped a notch. "Wichser..."(1) she growled.

**-booom-**

"An explosion?" Suddenly Shinji's boredom was gone. Running up on deck, they were just in time to see something in the water ramming one of the destroyers, causing another explosion in the aft section. Shinji watched the huge shadow darting away from the destruction, unimpressed by the shockwave. He knew what that only could be. "Oh no...an Angel!"

"An Angel?" Asuka suddenly felt that she could finally show him why SHE was the number one. "Come, time to show you how I will use my EVA!"

_Shit, she will kill herself with such an attitude in battle... _Running after her, Shinji hoped that Misato would have everything under control.

Misato actually was watching the Admiral giving orders to attack the Angel with all weapons, ignoring her totally. However, the weapons had no effect at all, dying in the AT-field. Instead the Angel smashed into one of the cruisers, almost breaking it in two.

**-brrroom-**

"How is that possible?" the Admiral growled.

Misato knew, she now had the advantage. "Conventional weapons can't pierce the AT-field of an Angel. I thought you knew this. Only an Evangelion can get through the field."

"I don't give a damn on what your eggheads think. Enough firepower WILL destroy it!" the Admiral insisted, ordering all ships to coninue fire on the enemy.

_**Grrr...Lilim! Lilim bad! **_Gaghiel was annoyed by the Lilim, while he destroyed one of their vessels after the other. He had problems to locate the right one, especially with all the disturbance around him, but he would find it. And after freeing his father, he would destroy all of them. _**Yes, find father! **_Getting further into his animalistic rage, he aimed for the next ship.

Kaji had been woken up by the noise of the battle. Watching the destruction through the viewport, he used his telephone at the same time. "I never expected an Angel attack. Did you? Had no idea that my freight would be _this_ hot."

_"I did. That's why I allowed the second pilot for Unit-02 to come on board as a safety measure. In case of emergency, leave the ship."_

"All right..." Closing his cell phone, Kaji watched the next ship being damaged. _You actually knew that would happen, yet you allowed all these ship crews to die withou giving a warning... _Kaji looked at his security metal case. _This thing is really hot freight._

"It should have been destroyed with that last salvo!" The Admiral slowly wondered what the hell that thing was made off, resisting all of their fire with ease.

_It must be after Unit-02... _Misato realized, having no other explanation. "I told you so..." She was still ignored.

Having finished putting on her plugsuit, Asuka wanted to throw her spare suit to Shinji, not caring that it most likely would hurt him because it wasn't made for him, but then she saw that he was already wearing what looked like his own plugsuit. "Where did you get this thing?"

"It was in my backpack.." Shinji was glad that he had that thing with him. It looked like his old suit, only now it had two airtight pockets, one which now held his precious locket. Something he had asked Dr. Akagi for so that he could have it with him all the time.

Asuka wondered why the hell he had carried a plugsuit around, but dismissed the thought. "Ok, now I will show you how I will handle this. Don't interfere!" Both climed into the entry plug, which then closed. "Startphase einleiten," she commanded to the computer.

**"Fehlfunktion"**

"Damn, think in German, you are disturbing the computer with your Japanese!" Asuka hissed, annoyed.

"How? I don't know a word German. You can't assume that everyone speaks it." Shinji didn't consider himself as narrow-minded. But for him as a Japanese it was offensive to force him to think in a different language than his own.

Asuka felt like hitting her head on the controls. "Damn idiot, you make this too complicated... Neue Sprache: Japanisch" Thankfully this time everything went OK.

"Sir, the freighter says that Unit-02 is activating!" a crewman reported to the Admiral.

"What? Stop that at once!" The Admiral wasn't pleased to hear even more bad news. Now that thing was also making trouble.

"No! You had your chance, now it is our turn. I will now take over the battle commands!" Misato snarled, finally having enough of the Admiral. "Prepare the power supply!"

_**What that? Not father...but smell him. **_Gaghiel went into further rage when he realized what it was. _**Perversion! DESTROY! **_Rage blinded what little intelligence Gaghiel had.

Unit-02 had barely managed to jump out of the freighter onto one of the cruisers, before the Angel literally pulverised the freighter with one hit. They watched on the bridge in awe as Unit-02 jumped from ship to ship, finally landing on the flight deck, the weight almost making the ship roll over. Asuka wasted no time to insert the emergency power plug.

"Fuck! You are suicidal, you know?" Shinji now knew one thing for sure: Asuka was totally reckless.

"What? No risk, no fun!" Asuka quipped.

"Stop this and try to destroy the Angel, all right?" Misato shouted over the comm. "Otherwise we will all die."

"Oh, good! Now watch this..." Readying her prog knife, she waited on the carrier for the Angel to attack. She didn't have to wait for too long, as it finally appeared on the surface. It was huge...really damn huge, bigger than the carrier. It suddenly jumped out of the water, directly towards them, mouth with many sharp teeth wide open to swallow the EVA whole!

"TAKE COVER!" Shinji screamed. It came out so loud that Asuka reacted without thinking. The EVA kneeled down at the last second, causing the huge Angel to fly over it, falling into the water on the other side of the carrier. "That was close!...Still so overconfident?"

"Overconfident? My ass! I will simply chase the Angel into the water, then we will see!" Asuka was about to actually jump off board, when Shinji had enough. He wouldn't die because of her recklessness. And her yelling was causing him in his weakened state headarches. So he held her hard by the arm.

"Damn! This is Tye B equipent! We would drown like rats! That thing is so big, it would eat us alive!" he hissed. "Use your head, because I have seen the weak point of the Angel while it had its mouth open!"

"Who do you think you are? And what the hell are you talking about!" Asuka snarled. If not for the fact that there was a hungry Angel out there, she would now beat up this idiot.

"You saw the red sphere in his mouth, we must hit that! And I think I know, how..."

Gaghiel was seething. His first try had been a failure. But this time, he wouldn't miss! _**Get you... Eat you! **_Getting faster, he already saw the big vessel, with the perversion standing on it. Gathering his momentum, he jumped, mouth open, to eat that thing whole.

But then it went fast.

Unit-02 had been holding the prog knife my the blade, waiting for the Angel. And exactly at the right moment, the EVA threw the knife at the Angel with all its might, when it was close enough for the AT-field to be useless. The knife flew directly into the open mouth of the Angel, the blade slamming with force into the core, getting stuck deep within it, while the EVA jumped to the other end of the carrier!

_**AAARRRGHH!**_

Landing in the water, Gaghiel tried to dislodge the knife, but instead only managed to break off the blade, which now was deeply lodged in the core, starting to shredder it from the inside. _**Hurt...Hurt so much... **_Gagiel felt his core slowly bleeding out, and with it his strength.

_**No...Father...Hurt so much...**_

Sinking down to the ground, Gaghiel blew up in a enormous explosion which left no trace of him.

* * *

"Ok, who of you two had this idea with the knife-throw?" Misato asked as soon as Asuka and Shinji had left the entry plug. She had to admit that while it was a gamble, they had little alternatives and it had worked. 

"That was me," Shinji admitted.

"I must admit, it was a wonder that it worked. How did you get this idea and convinced Asuka to do it?" Misato then asked.

"Uhm, actually that was a sudden inspiration. I saw no other way to hit the core of the Angel, and I thought that we should try it. And ...eh.. I basically told her that if she didn't want to be digested to shit, she should better try it," Shinji told her. In reality he had used more drastic words which he didn't want to repeat. "I hope you aren't angry that I took a chance."

"No, I'm not angry. I myself had no idea how to beat that thing, so I will just accept that it worked." Misato then looked to Asuka. "And it was you who did the actual knife-throw?"

"Yes, and I think that I hit the target on the exact spot proves, that I'm the best," Asuka said with confidence, the whole thing boosting her ego.

"Please?" Shinji thought he didn't hear right. "Without me the Angel would have either swallowed you whole, or you would have ended as the worm on the hook by jumping into the water. The only thing you proved to me is that you are reckless as hell and have an ego that is even bigger than your EVA!" Shinji then left angry, before he would forget himself.

Asuka couldn't believe it. "Who does he think he is?"

Misato had feared that it would come to this. Having two of the pilots dislike each other was really bad, and she didn't want to imagine what effect this would have on their battle performance. On the other hand, Shinji was too honest about Asuka's faults. Honesty might be good otherwise, but with Asuka it would only cause problems. Especially since he had no idea why she was that way. But it wasn't her place to tell him.

Kaji had watched this from the observation deck of the command tower. With a smile he realized that with Asuka there, things would get quite interesting. That, and he was glad that he didn't have to leave them alone. He didn't want to imagine what Misato would have thought of him then.

* * *

_...in the harbour, three hours later..._

Sitting in a NERV van, Misato and Ritsuko watched Unit-02 being unloaded from the 'Over the Rainbow' onto a special transport, which would move it to the geofront. "A fourth of the UN pacific fleet destroyed by the Angel. A perfect way to end the day," Misato groaned. "And it could have been even worse..."

"Looks like you had quite a day," Ritsuko dryly commented, while looking over the printout from Unit-02's data box. "However, that stuff looks interesting. Some useful data about the Angel we need to analyse in detail. Hm...and this is Shinji's best synch-ratio up to now. It seems that battle conditions seem to make him better."

"But he only maintained it for the three seconds during the knifethrow, assisting Asuka's synch-ratio. And even then it was lower than Asuka's by a good ten points. Maybe it was simply the adrenaline. And that he had been even able to assist at all was a wonder. He got sea-sick and Asuka went on his nerves," Misato remembered.

"Whatever you say...The transcript from the internal plug sensors is interesting... I guess Shinji and Asuka really rub each other the wrong way, totally the opposite of him and Rei. I hope they won't go to battle like this next time..."

"I hope that, too," Misato sighed, rolling her eyes. She remembered Asuka too well from her time in Germany. Her pride and huge ego, paired with her dark past were prime for conflicts. Misato had already back then been worried, that Asuka was no team player, that she felt so superior to everyone. Hopefully, she would get over this in time.

The conversation was disturbed however, when Kaji walked by, two big suitcases in his hands. "Well, if this isn't Ritsuko Akagi. You still look as good as I remember you," he said with a smile, ignoring Misato's scrowl.

"If that isn't the old charmer Ryoji Kaji..." Ritsuko knew that Misato was allergic to his presence, and she had no desire to let the situation escalate even more. "Guess you want to conclude your business with the Commander?"

"Already on the way to him. Maybe I will see you two later?" He then walked to a waiting black Mercedes.

Misato snorted. "I can only hope that he won't stay long. He is still the same macho that I remember. He hasn't changed in the slightest!"

_Looks like Misato isn't as over him as she always prides herself to be... _Feiging being busy with the printout, she absently noted, "Do I hear the voice of regret?"

Misato looked at her friend as if she had grown a second head, then wondered where the science-people always got these weird ideas. Trying to push all thoughts about her ex-boyfriend aside, she concentrated on the current tasks at hand. Namely the transport of Unit-02 to the geofront and getting the children home.

"Well, the children will join us on the way to Tokyo-3. I think Shinji can't wait to finally get out of his plugsuit." Pulling down the window, she called to them, "Come here now! And Mr. Aida, if you don't stop filming, I will force you to eat your camera!"

This managed to stop Kensuke from filming any more footage of the EVA. They all quickly gathered in the van, and Asuka looked around, as if expecting to see someone. "Misato? Where is Mr. Kaji?" she asked.

Misato bit back a dirty comment about him. "He already left. And I couldn't care less where he is right now!"

* * *

_...Gendo's office, a hour later..._

"The Angel must have sensed my special freight, it would have never attacked us otherwise. Apart from the attack however, everything went smooth," Kaji said, putting the metal case on Gendo's desk. Opening the case, a thing looking like a human embryo, encased in an orange block, was revealed. "It must be really important."

"Oh yes, it is..." Gendo admitted, looking at the still form.

"It had managed to regenerate up to this point, even after encase in bakkelite, but now it has stopped doing so. Why, no one knows. Let me guess... This being is the key to the Human Instrumentality Project?" Kaji asked Gendo, as if already knowing the answer.

"Exactly. This is the First Angel, Adam. Rendered totally helpless by his own act of destruction. And now he will help us to get, what he and his descendants want to deny us," Gendo explained. "Your new orders will transfer you permanently to this base, so clear all the details."

"Yes, Commander," Kaji mock saluted. He knew, he could take this liberty. _Commander Ikari...you have no idea that you just now have invited Janus into your house... _he mentally chuckled.

Then he left Gendo alone.

Gendo looked down at Adam's still form, his eyes revealing open hatred, an emotion he only very seldom still felt. _You are responsible for the events that in the end made her vanish. Fitting that now it will be you, who will help me to get Yui back. And I will make sure that you won't survive it!_

Closing the case, Gendo pushed the button to call Dr. Akagi. They would store the case for now in the high-security vault, until the procedure could be done. But that was still months away, and they had to make sure to keep Adam far away from Lilith.

_Patience...I've waited eleven years, so what are a few months? _he remembered, while waiting.

* * *

._..Monday, Class 2-A..._

Class was about to begin in less than ten minutes, while Shinji, Toji and Kensuke were talking about the little adventure two days ago. Hikari was strangely absent. "Good looking, yes, but a real bitch, if you ask me," Toji openly admitted.

"You only know half of it. You hadn't to endure being together with her in the entry plug. I swear, I was only centimeters away from forgetting myself, even in the middle of the battle," Shinji added, not looking forward to see Asuka inside NERV on almost a daily basis. She was essentially already getting on his nerves, even after only knowing her for hours, and he wondered what the hell her problem was with him.

"It could be worse. At least Toji and I won't see her again. Shinji on the other hand will have to endure her quite a lot now. Well, at least I got something out of this. And I will keep the picture of Shinji throwing up all over her. That compensates for the slap and having to listen to her monologue how superior she and her EVA are," Kensuke commented. "Shinji, I'm really pity you."

At this moment, the door was opened, and Hikari stepped in. "Class! We will have an addition today!" she called, getting their attention. Moving aside, she made room for a girl to walk into the room. A red-haired girl the three boys only knew too well.

"This is supposed to be a joke, right?" Kensuke stammered.

"Shit, no!" Toji groaned.

Walking in front of the class, Asuka couldn't help but to smile, seeing that the attention of the whole class was on her. That, and the look of horror from the three idiots. "My name is Asuka Langely Soryu. I'm new here," she introduced herself.

"Guys...I pity us..." Walking back to his seat beside Rei, Shinji couldn't help but to wonder which gods he had pissed off.

"Shinji?" Rei asked, when seeing that something wasn't right with him.

"Rei...I have the feeling that our lives got much more complicated," Shinji groaned.

_Well, it could be even worse...at least she isn't living with us, _Shinji thought. But he didn't dare to vocalise it. Who knew if there was a kami only waiting for him to make this error, so that it could ruin his day?

_**to be continued...**_

(1) "Wichser" is a very rude insult to a man in German. It means something like "palm-fucker" or "mastrubator", only even more rude.

_**Next Episode:**_

_**"Israfel, Part 1"**_


	9. Israfel Part 1

I will say these things in advance: I have absolutely no rights at NGE, but you should have already known that.

The story itself is basically a re-telling of the original storyline, but twisted into my way. While at the beginning there seem to be only few divigances, it will become more with each episode. The people, their motivations and the backgrounds are while holding true to the basic layout, changed at my imagination in many details, so canon-purists now are allowed to flame me.

NOTE: I hate both, the ending of the TV series, and how End of Evangelion turned out. So don't expect any of those outcomes.

This will be Shinji/Rei. Wow, the first time that an Episode it officially split in two by me! Feels like a raise in pay, doesn't it?

For all the work I put into this, I would like to get reviews. I will always try to respond to every review I get.

* * *

**Chapter 8: Israfel, Part 1**

_...Office of the Vice-Commander..._

"I guess you know why I have summoned you three. It is about the stay of the Second Child here in Tokyo-3," Vice-Commander Fuyutsuki stated, watching the three people sitting at the other side of his desk. Misato, Ritsuko and Ryoji. He hadn't been in town when the Second Child had arrived, but now that he was back, he knew they had to get these things out of the way. "Despite Mr. Kaji being transferred here permanently, his line of work will make it impossible to continue his guardianship of Miss Soryu."

"I told her this, too. But she didn't want to believe me. I guess we have to give her facts. I wonder who instead of me will get guardianship?" Kaji wondered.

"She can't live in the geofront, her need to go to school will make this impractical. And since she is still a minor..." The Vice-Commander looked to Misato. "According to your file, your apartment still has one spare room. Also this will make it easier for Section 2 to keep an eye on them."

"You transfer guardianship to me, Sir?" Misato asked. Not that Shinji was difficult to handle, and she already had experienced Asuka's character quirks. Still, she felt like it was dumped into her lap. And Shinji's and Asuka's opposite personalities were a source of concern for her. She also wondered how the size of her apartment had ended up in her file.

Kaji said nothing, but he knew, Misato had never been the motherly type. Even back then, her living style had been messy. He wondered how Misato had managed to get guardianship of Shinji in the first place.

"Yes, exactly that." Fuyutsuki gave Misato a folder. "These are all the papers needed. I will leave the details to you" He then looked to Ritsuko. "What about Unit-02, the pilot and the schedules?" he asked her.

Ritsuko looked through the paperwork in her hands briefly. "Unit-02 is in good condition, despite the battle on sea. We have done all adaptions, so Unit-02 is now battle-ready. The last synch-test yesterday showed a stable ratio. It is even a point higher than the last test in Germany, according to the data. So I see no problems there, and we will schedule the tests of all pilots to be at the same date, this will be most practical," she reported to him.

This was how Fuyutsuki liked it: no problems. Too bad that his day would be ruined with a meeting of the city council this afternoon. A council with no real power, but full of babbling politicians. And that for four hours. "Good, then you are dismissed... However, before you go, Mr. Kaji..."

"Yes, Sir?" Kaji asked, wondering what there could be still to talk about. He knew that Gendo most likely had told him everything about him, but with Misato still there, it couldn't be that.

The Vice-Commander looked him up and down disappovingly, frowning at Kaji's attire of cheap shirt and loosely bound, also cheap, tie. "Should I ever again catch you in the geofront in that attire, and with such a bad shave, you will get a lecture from the quartermaster. I order you from now on to wear your uniform."

"Yes, Sir..." Kaji had always hated uniforms, being forced to wear one almost every day was really mean towards him. And he wondered why _he_ had to wear a stiff uniform, while _Misato_ got away with applying the dress code in a much more lax way.

_Guess sometimes fate bites even the smartest... _he mentally sighed, resigning himself to wearing an uncomfortable uniform.

All three of them left the office. As soon as the door was closed, Misato couldn't hold it back any longer. "At least you won't look like a bum. I don't have any idea how you managed to get the transfer, but don't think I'm happy."

"Hey, I look good in anything, best in nothing at all, as you should know best," Ryoji told her jokingly. But obviously that was the wrong thing to say.

Misato sniffed, this brought up memories of better times, where they both really had felt something for each other. She didn't want to remember it, because it also made her remember how he had reminded her of her father, which in the end had been the doom of their relationship.

"Never again bring this up!" she hissed, a lone tear escaping her.

That said, Misato left them alone.

"Seems we will have to postone the good old times..." he commented while watching her retreating back.

"You have really a way with of people, Ryoji. You and Misato parted on bad terms, and it had really, really hurt her. If you really want to get into her good graces again, better stop playing your games and become less of a macho..." Dr. Akagi then left him alone as well, having work to do.

As Kaji looked after her retreating form, he thought he had made a big mistake, causing Misato to drift further away from him. He had dated after they had separated, but that special feeling he had with her was missing with them.

He was loathe to admit it, but he had made a grave error that day years ago when he had not fought for her.

He really missed her.

Misato meanwhile was thinking of how to arrange Asuka having to live with her and Shinji, pushing away every thought having Kaji as a topic.

She knew that these two weren't on the best terms, but maybe being forced to live together will iron that out. At least she hoped so. She would have to call Asuka later, while getting her stuff delivered to her place (she wondered how a girl can own so much shit, even with herself being female as well).

The second room was somewhat smaller than the one where Shinji was living. She briefly toyed with the idea of moving him into the smaller room, but then remembered his threat of a cooking-strike he had made some time ago. _Sorry, Asuka, but you will have to bite into the bitter apple. I would rather invoke your anger on me, than risk Shinji get ballistic on me for throwing him out of his room..._

She only felt betrayed because one way or another, she would recieve the fallout of this situation.

* * *

_...at school, lunch break..._

Shinji normally had Toji and Kensuke at his side during lunch, and recently, on occassion, Hikari. But today he was alone with Rei. They had excused themselves with the words: 'We want to at least get compensated for this', whatever that meant. He only hoped they wouldn't get into trouble again, which usually was the case. Hikari also wasn't there, as she was busy with some aspects of being the class representative. And Shinji didn't even want to think about Asuka.

That girl had to be a huge attention-whore. And actually the class seemed to get along with it. It had been only half a day, and already she had mutated into the center of attention in class. And he bet that it wasn't because of her, at least for Japan, unusual hair color. Shinji didn't really want to imagine the situation in one week, if it continued at this pace. But then, he guessed, the thing would have spread over the whole school.

Just now Asuka was busy with showing off in front of several classmates, boys and girls alike, boasting what a great pilot she is, totally disregarding secrecy. He wondered if Misato and Ritsuko would get angry over this. "Rei, I don't know if I should feel glad for the reinforcements we got, or sad for the fact that it had been in form of her."

"You dislike Pilot Soryu?" Rei asked him, seemingly oblivious to everything concerning Asuka during that day.

"I do not actively dislike her, but she really goes on my nerves and and her only reason to pilot is to feed her ego with the fact, that she is the best. Nah, I don't want to talk about her right now, ok?" Seeing Rei silently agree, Shinji moved to a different topic. "Say, Rei, why do you wear your hair like this? So short, I mean, and in this particular cut?"

"This is the standard haircut I recieve at the hairdresser in the geofront. It was always this style, as far as I can remember. Is something wrong with it?" Rei asked him, wondering why he asked. She herself had no idea that it was Gendo's order to give Rei a haircut close to the one Yui had used.

"Have you ever thought about letting it grow out a little, say, to a little below your shoulders?" Shinji asked.

"No. Why?"

Shinji had to remind himself that this girl had lived in a existence that defied explanation not so long ago, so he remembered that he had to spell it out for her, otherwise she wouldn't understand. "Rei, girls wear their hair longer because it looks pretty on them. Also it highlights a girl's beauty."

"You think of me as beautiful?" she asked him, a light red tint on her cheeks. No one ever before had called her this. She had no idea why her face felt warm, not understanding her own emotional reaction. But it felt good.

"Yes, I do. You are quite beautiful. But I wondered why someone insisted on this haircut. I image you with longer hair..." Shinji was looking her up and down, obviously thinking.

Rei was thinking, too. Long hair would be more difficult to maintain, and she had no practical reason at all to let it grow longer. But then she heared Shinji telling her how good longer hair would suit her, making her good looks even better. And then she saw herself in her mind's eye, hair at the length of Pilot Soryu's, a blue waterfall of hair flowing down from her head, moving in a light morning breeze.

"I will let it grow out," she finally decided, the picture she had in her mind now too strong to dismiss it. That, and it would make Shinji happy.

"Well..I... Really?" Shinji stopped when she said this. "Won't this take some time?"

"My hair grows at a higher rate than that of most other people. If I cancel my hairdresser appointment this week and all following, it will take only three months for my hair to reach to below my shoulders," she explained to him. No need to tell him that it was the Angel DNA within her, that accellerated her hair growth.

"What caused you to make that decision?" Shinji asked her surprised.

Rei looked a little unsure how to put it into words. "It would look...nice. And it would improve my...beauty."

Shinji could only smile, and he brighted up, when he saw Rei retuning the smile with one of her own. A angelic smile that would melt even the coldest heart. However, this moment was disturbed, when a shadow fell over them. Looking to saw what blocked out the sun, Shinji saw to his dismay that it was Asuka. Rei looked indifferent to her. Shinji noticed that seemingly all of the school was watching them, waiting for the outcome. And he spotted Kensuke being busy with his camcorder, filming every second of it.

Asuka totally ignored Shinji, adressing Rei. "Hello, you mut be the First Child, Rei Ayanami, the pilot of the prototype. I'm Asuka. Asuka, Langley Soryu. Let us be friends," she told her, her voice full of confidence. Obviously Asuka assumed an immediate accept of the offer.

"And what for?" Rei asked with a totally indifferent voice. For Shinji it was a total contrast to how far Rei had developed so far, it sounded like the Rei of months ago. He guessed that something didn't sit right with her.

Asuka didn't seem to have expected this. "Because it would be very practical. Logical, isnt it?"

"I will become your friend as soon as I am ordered to," came the dry response.

"What kind of freakazoid are you?" Asuka wondered, but then her cell phone beeped, distracting her. She answered it. "Yes...? Oh, Misato...Wait a moment.." With that, Asuka left without sparing them another glance.

"Rei, that was really cold," Shinji finally said.

Rei's face returned to a more relaxed state. "I myself do not fully understand my reaction, but Pilot Soryu's words of offering friendship to me sounded...false."

Shinji could guess what exactly Rei meant. "To say it blunt, you saw that she only offered friendship because of your status. Rei, we might dislike how she acts towards us, but we have to learn how to live with it, she will actually fight by our side. We should try to stay civil to her...as long as she won't take it too far." Shinji had no illusions, even his patience was limited, and with Asuka pushing all the wrong buttons, it was only a matter of time if it continued like this...

Rei couldn't help it, but she felt the truth in his words. And she felt warmness spreading around her heart when a small part of her acknowledged the wisdom in this.

Right then, Kensuke joined them. "Man, that I got this on film! Her highness getting shot down by Ayanami! Thanks, you just saved our day from being a total suck-up."

Rei blinked. What was she supposed to say? "Uh...thank you?" Shinji felt that he shouldn't comment on this at all.

* * *

_...after school..._

Shinji had been surprised that Asuka had missed the rest of the day, but Hikari had told him that she had been excused by Misato. Shinji had no idea, why, and actually he had no desire to know, since it was nothing of his concern. He was actually happy with it, as it meant that the rest of the school day had been quiet, and now he and Rei were walking home to the apartment complex where they had their respective homes.

Both of them arrived just in time to see a DHL delivery truck starting its engine and driving away, but they payed it no heed. However, when they arrived on the correct floor, Shinji saw that there were some boxes stacked outside the door to Misato's apartment. Having seen something like this when his own stuff had arrived, he got a really bad feeling.

"Please excuse me, Rei..." He knew she wouldn't be offended, while he directly walked to the door, and keyed it open. The same picture inside with some more boxes. _Please don't tell me... _Running to the door to his room, he yanked it open.

He let out a breath of relief. His room was the same way he had left it, with nothing being touched or moved. Setting down his school bag, he walked to the kitchen, only to have his hopes crushed. There was Asuka, looking quite pissed at Misato, who glared back as best as she could. His arrival seemed to break this draw.

Asuka first looked sharp at him, then back to Misato. "I do not understand why I have to live together with him? And why does he get the bigger room!" she finally complained, obviously not for the first time judging by Misato's face. "I wanted to live together with Mr. Kaji, but instead they force me next room to this loser?"

Misato tried to ignore Kaji's name. The scene at NERV with him had been enough for her today. "For the last time, Asuka..." It was clear, this argument had went on for quite some time, really eating at Misato's nerves. "It's ordered from high up, the Vice-Commander himself to be precise."

"Then he made a stupid decision!" Asuka snorted, crossing her arms in defiance.

Misato's face hardened. "Ok! If you insist on complaining on your lodging, then complain to him in person. I can give you an appointment..."

Asuka's face fell. She might be arrogant, but not stupid. And getting on the Vice-Commander's nerves was the best way to call for trouble. It was obvious that Misato had the better cards, and won this round. "...but why the smaller room?" she asked less heated, but still trying to at least score a partial victory.

But Misato now had no desire to retreat even a foot-length. "Sorry, but Shinji is doing all the cooking around here, as well as the grocery shopping. He earned that room."

Asuka knew Misato well enough to know, that she had lost to her for now. Admitting defeat, Asuka turned to the door. "Ok...I hope all my stuff will fit into it. And these sliding doors. You can't even lock these. Where is the privacy? How can you live like that?"

Misato by now had recovered her good mood, knowing that she had the upper hand. "Here in Japan, the interests of the collective are held in a higher regard," she told Asuka with a smirk.

"Yeah, whatever. I'm taking a bath. I have to cool off..." Without acknowledging Shinji,. Asuka left the kitchen and searched through one of the boxes, before vanishing into the bathroom.

Misato looked apologically to Shinji. "Sorry, that wasn't my idea."

Shinji let out a loud sigh, before almost falling into a kitchen chair. "I got the gist of it. Misato, I have the feeling that this is quite a bad idea. In the short time I know her, her huge ego and egocentrism have managed to really piss me off. I have no idea if I can manage to live with her, if she is always like that!"

Misato did understand, but she also remembered the promise she had made to Asuka, that she wouldn't tell anyone outside of work-related inquiries of her past. Misato understood this request. But she also knew that if Shinji and Asuka had to live together, Shinji had to know that Asuka's huge ego was more than just that.

"Shinji... Please understand that I promised Asuka to tell no one outside of work, but you have to understand that her ego is her way to deal with things," she explained to him.

"Deal with things?"

"Asuka has a troubled past, which made her developing what you see now, as a defense mechanism. So please try to be civil to her, and maybe she will calm down," Misato explained further.

Shinji had no idea what to think of that. "Ok, I will try. But Misato, I have limits..." Shinji saw that he didn't need to say anymore about this. "What's with all these boxes?"

"That's her stuff. Gods, I had no idea that a girl can own so much shit, and I'm a woman myself. No chance that all this stuff can fit into her room. So either she stores most of it somewhere else, or gets rid of it," Misato explained, shaking her head in disbelival.

Shinji understood. He himself had only four boxes, but Asuka had at least twenty of these. Well, it was her problem. "Not my trouble, as long as the boxes don't stand in the way." Looking around, Shinji saw no sign of her pet. "Misato? Where is Pen-Pen?"

"He is of course in the...Oooops!" Misato gave him a guilty smile, when she realized when Pen-Pen was right now. "I think I will warn..."

**"AAAAAHHHHH!"**

"Too late..." Shinji winced, when hearing Asuka scream.

The curtain to the bathroom was ripped open, revealing Asuka. "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?" Asuka screamed , while a warm-water penguin walked into the kitchen, towards his fridge.

"That's Pen-Pen. He is my pet, so better get used to him." Misato looked Asuka up and down. "Asuka, do you have an exhibitionistic streak, or why do you give Shinji a free show?"

Confused, Asuka looked to Shinji, who seemed to be in a state of shock, then down herself, and her eyes widened hin horror. She had been so scared that she had run into the kitchen totally naked! She had given this-this pervert boy a premium view of herself! Asuka blushed so heavily that her face matched her red hair.

"Eeeek!" With that, she ran back into the bathroom.

Misato knew, that this scene wouldn't really help Shinji's effords to get along with her, but the situation had been simply too hilarious and she couldn't surpress a small giggle. She noticed that Shinji seemed to become pretty uncomfortable before running to his room.

_Poor boy... _she thought, imagining what he propably had to take care of. She looked to Pen-Pen. "You know you have the unhealthy habit of bathing at the most unsuitable of times..."

Pen-Pen looked at her. "Wark!" Then he retreated into his fridge. No idea what it meant, Misato resigned herself to the fact that it had been stupid to try and talk with a penguin, since you couldn't expect an answer.

Shinji breathed heavily while sliding the door closed. Hell, he had seen Asuka totally naked! All of her front, including the ultimate proof that Asuka was indeed a natural redhead. Damn, his pants felt tight all of a sudden. His heart was with Rei, but he also was a teenage boy, a horny one at that. And while the scene with Rei back then hadn't allowed him this option, it was now too much for him.

Pulling down his pants and boxers, he sat on his bed, and took care of it, until he found relief. That was of course not the first time he had done that, but it had never felt as freeing as it did now. Sighing in relief with the task done, Shinji hoped that this was the only time something like that happens.

But he knew that Asuka now was out for his head. _Gods, it will be a hell of a week, and it is just Monday..._

Spending more time with Rei looked more and more like the best solution.

* * *

_...one week later, morning at the school..._

"Geez...They talk about nothing else...Asuka this...Asuka that," Kensuke grumbled, while selling another batch of photos to one of the boys. "At least we get good bucks out of it."

"They simply have no idea," Toji added, while looking at the negatives. "They should be glad that these photos don't show her true face, which is less than beautiful."

Both of them had decided to make the best of the situation, and made a number of photos of Asuka for the seemingly never-ending demand. At least they got something out of this. But Toji was still miffed that Asuka had decided to make friends with Hikari of all people, which meant that he either had to stay away from her when Asuka was there, or try to ignore her as much as possible while hanging out with Hikari. Hikari herself was quite aware of that tension, much to her sorrow.

"At least you don't have to live with her," Shinji groaned, while he counted the money these two had made with their small business. "Great to look at, sure, but a personality like a cactus."

Shinji winced, when remembering the previous week. Asuka hadn't spoken to him for two days, always giving him hateful stares. It was only after becoming a celebrity in school, that she became more civil towards him again, but still treated him as if he was nothing, compared to her. Asuka really seemed to enjoy all the attention she got, from boys and girls alike. (and he had seen the pile of discarded love letters) It was clear that Asuka has positioned herself at the top tenth of the social ladder at school.

Shinji felt that Asuka mostly disliked him because he was a pilot. Asuka also had avoided Rei like the plague, after she had humiliated her in public last Monday by refusing her offer of friendship. And Toji and Kensuke he guessed she disliked because of their association with him. But of course she wasn't everybody's darling. A good number of the girls were by now really annoyed that the boys focussed their attention on her, and gave her quite some nasty looks, which she blissfully ignored.

His patience was by now paper-thin. Despite Misato warning him about it, and him sometimes hearing her talk in her sleep about things that seem to be horrible (he had no way to understand it, since it was all German), it became hard to any longer endure her inflated ego. At home, at NERV, at school... it was wearing him down. Despite a possibly bad childhood she had, he felt like finally telling her down.

"I do not know how she managed to make friends with Hikari, but I'm still astounded that these two seem to get along really well. But it's still hard for me to stay civil to her while Hikari is with me. Damn, why did she have to make friends with Hikari of all people?" Toji groaned.

"Maybe she only has something against boys? Maybe she is a lesbo?" Kensuke thought aloud, much to Toji's horror. "Hmm, if she is, she is despite her looks, quite the butch, cosidering her behaviour."

"Kensuke, stop this at once!" Toji shouted, not wanting to hear anymore of this possibility.

Kensuke held up his hands. "Ok! Ok! It was only a theory, after all!"

Shinji rolled his eyes at the antics of his friends. "I wish I had your problems. Hearing her babbling about her superior skills every time at training is like sandpaper on my nerves. This girl seems to have built up all of herself around piloting."

"I wonder how she became a pilot with a personality like that?" Kensuke snorted. He still thought that he would have been a much better candidate than this spoiled princess.

"Counter-question: How did my old man become the boss with a personality like his?" Shinji mocked, making Kensuke shut up.

"Uh, yeah..." Kensuke had nothing to add to that.

"I guess, NERV is unresistable for people who are bonkers..." That said, Toji put away all the negatives they intended for the sale tomorrow. "No offense, Shinji, but to think that these people have the task to save the world..."

"No offense taken. By now I start to think that Rei might be more normal than most of the others," Shinji answered, handling Kensuke the counted money.

"Thanks..." he put the money away. "Speaking of Rei, where is she? Haven't seen her since we have arrived, and it's still over fifteen minutes before school actually starts. Normally she now is always somewhere near you at the morning," Kensuke said with a grin, enjoying Shinji blushing slightly. It was really refreshing to see Ayanami actually talking to someone, not any longer always as stiff as a board.

Shinji knew, by now gossip about him and Rei was circulating. True, she was his girlfriend, but they hadn't even kissed yet, and Rei surely wasn't ready for such things at the time. "She is reading something for class today. We better don't disturb her..."

Indeed, Rei was busy with reading a text that was the topic in class for the week. She was reading, until a shadow fell over the book. Looking up, she saw Asuka, and felt something stir in herself. Obviously annoyance. She had seen how Asuka had pulled all the attention to herself, while treating Shinji like an underling. She might not dislike the Second Child, but she wasn't thrilled to see her either.

"Yes?" she asked her, indifferent.

"You had quite some nerves to reject me. And after all what I heared you are the Commander's favourite," Asuka hissed, not holding back her anger. She had been irritated by the First Child since day one. It was especially bad when Shinji was near. Rei was different together with him. And towards her, she was cold. It also irked her to no end that Rei didn't seem to acknowledge her superiority at all. And she guessed it was because of her own position.

"And?" Rei questioned, not understanding what the point was. She also wondered why it took her one week to reply.

Asuka ranted on, not even caring for an answer. "And the way you always hang around with the Third Child, and all the rumors I've heared. Who do you think you are?" Asuka finally vented her irritation in all its irrational glory. It was the frustration that she, the normal center of attention, wasn't appreciated by both of the other pilots.

Rei blinked, not understanding her motivation to tell her this. "Shinji is my boyfriend, Pilot Soryu, so being with him is expected from me."

_BOYFRIEND! _Asuka didn't believe her for a second. Rei was as emotional as a block of ice. "I don't believe you. Someone as frigid as you can't have a boyfriend."

Seeing that reading wouldn't be possible anymore, Rei closed her book, and got up. "It is nothing of my concern, what you believe, Pilot Soryu. I only stated the facts." That said, Rei left for the classroom.

Asuka stood there, trying to process what had just happened. That was now the second time Ayanami had simply brushed her off. _Who does she think she is! Oh, the Commander's favourite doesn't need anyone!_

"Asuka?"

Turning around, she saw Hikari approaching her. Her mood went right up when seeing her friend, minus the stooge that normally hang out with her. "Hello Hikari!"

"I saw Ayanami leave. Did something happen?" Hikari asked her. She had found a liking to Asuka, but that didn't mean she was blind to how she treated some people, specifically the other pilots and Shinji's friends. And after she had heared of Rei's open refusal to be Asuka's friend, she knew that she had to watch out when it came to these two girls.

"No...nothing happened. Hikari, does she have a boyfriend?" Asuka asked her, hoping that the answer was no.

Hikari wondered, why Asuka would ask her this. Sure, she too had heared the rumors and saw Rei and Shinji together quite often. "I don't really know, but it would make sense seeing her and Shinji being this close after Ayanami had been so distant for the longest time. Why do you ask?"

Asuka couldn't give an answer. "I think I better go to class..." She then left Hikari alone.

Hikari had no idea what exactly had happened between these two, but it had really riled up Asuka. Hikari was by now sure, that Asuka's overly surperior behaviour was only a front. A front that became somewhat transparent when she was alone with her. Problem was that Asuka was at odds with her other friends, all of them at the same time.

_Well, lets better go to class. No use to brood over this right now. I can't do anything about it anyway right now, _Hikari decided. She had neither the time, nor could she force someone to change his/her behaviour.

* * *

_...far outside on sea..._

The water started to boil, when under its surface a glowing portal opened, allowing a huge, black, roughly humanoid shape to enter the ocean. The portal faded out behind it. Israfel looked around with his yin-yang face. He had done it! He had managed to enter the world of the Lillim.

_**Finally! Finally!**_

Now he could proceed to free his father, bringing him to safety from the ones who had hurt him so much. Israfel wouldn't fail, he was confident of that, thanks to what the others had gotten known, but paid with their lives.

Israfel had been always looked at as if he was a little strange. He had been always the odd one for them. Maybe that was even actually true. But for him, that was normal, they simply couldn't really understand his nature of duality. No one could, except his father, who had understood instantly. He was Israfel, he was he. But at the same time, he was them. Duality, yet a single mind, one personality, one will

No, they really never had understood him. And now he didn't care anymore. For now he would only concentrate on his task at hand. And should the Lillim try to stop him... _**Who said something about fair play? Who said something about fair play? Wait until you meet me! Wait until you meet me! He, he, he! He, he, he!**_

Israfel started swimming towards the land. It would take some time, but he wasn't in a great rush.

* * *

_...at the same time at NERV..._

It was rather quiet at the moment, with no emergency and no pilot training, the bridge crew hadn't much to do. Also the Commander wasn't in Tokyo-3 at the moment, which meant that Fuyutsuki had command. The Vice-Commander however, was quite bored. Right now he was sitting in the command level's command chair, reading his recently purchased novel. He even wished that he could do some sort of trivial task as they were burdened on him often. But today was a real lull.

On the control level, the three "bridge bunnies" were busy with talking.

"Did you notice that Captain Katsuragi seems a little tense in the last week?" Shigeru asked his colleagues.

"You bet! I never before so her so snappy. Something must be really stressing her out..." Makoto added, having never before seen his surperior in such a bad mood.

Maya knew both reasons. She had seen first hand how Misato had hissed at Mr. Kaji, with Ritsuko commenting that this had happened years ago and that she should finally get over it. No, that was her private thing. However, the other reason was no secret. "It's because she now has to house both of the pilots, Shinji and Asuka."

"Both of them? Ouch!" Makoto winced. He had witnessed first hand that both, Shinji and Asuka, weren't really compartible.

"Yes, ouch. Shinji is a really nice boy, but Asuka... I can only wonder what made her this way. It's no wonder that the Captain is at the end with her nerves if she has to endure this at home all the time.." Maya really felt sorry for the Captain.

"Guess this will make her doubt if she ever wants to have kids of her own..." Shigeru chuckled dryly.

"That was really mean. Don't say this about her," Maya scolded him.

"What?" Shigeru aske, raising an eyebrow.

Maya couldn't help but to sigh. They knew Shigeru Aoba was a nihilist and quite a cynic, which didn't make him any less likeable. But he always tried to stay true to his image. They had learned to live with this quirk of his.

Makoto could only shake his head.

**-BWEEEAAAT- -BWEEEAAAT- -BWEEEAAAT-**

"The alert!" At once all three of them fully concentrated on their job, with the Vice-Commander walking down to their level, after having put away his book.

"Report!" Fuyutsuki ordered, now all business.

"A report from the cruiser Hagonah. They spotted an huge under-water object swimming towards the mainland, our position. They send us the data," Shigeru reported.

"We have analysed the data. It is a blue wavelength pattern! An Angel!" Makoto reported. Thankfully, with all the data they had from the last battles, they now were able to identify Angels from afar now.

The Vice-Commander growled a little. Of course this had to happen right when Gendo wasn't in town. "Then classify this as the seventh Angel. Go to full, city-wide alert. Everyone to battle stations!"

* * *

_...half an hour later..._

"The defense systems of Tokyo-3 were heavily damaged when the fifth Angel attacked, and we were only able to repair a fraction of it, so the defense grid of the city is down to 26 percent. All our mobile forces were also so much weakened that they can't hold the enemy away for any longer time. So we have to attack the enemy at the waterfront, giving it no chance to come close to the city," Misato briefed Shinji and Asuka, who were already inside their EVA's.

Right at the moment they were on the way to the place where the Angel would make landfall. Unit-01 and 02 were flown in the big EVA-carriers, while the energy suppy units and the command vehicle were on the way over the highway. Unit-00 was back in full battle condition, but Rei's synch-ratio was still lower than Shinji's. While Shinji was by now at 54 and slowly rising, Rei had only managed to rise her ratio back to 49. So Rei was backup in the city, in case something went wrong.

"To make sure that everything goes right, you will both attack the Angel in a coordinated attack, that should throw it off so much, that this should do it in with some luck," Misato continued.

"Great, my first big battle in Japan, and now I have to watch out for you. I don't want you here," Asuka groaned, feeling that Shinji again was stealing her spotlight.

"If you want to complain, complain to Misato. Orders are orders," Shinji told her deadly serious. "This is no game."

Asuka snorted. "Really? Don't you even dare to stay in my way, Third Child." She then shut off the comm to Unit-01. No, she wouldn't let him steal the spotlight. Not now that she could finally show him who the boss is. "I really wonder who selected _him_ as a pilot?"

"Misato, I hope she won't do something stupid," Shinji said.

"Don't worry. Asuka is professional enough," she tried to disspipate his worries. _At least I hope so... _she silently added.

Finally they arrived at the beach, and in seconds they were connected to the cables.

"A battle two against one, isn't that kind of unfair?" Asuka asked Misato, hoping that it would lead to Misato giving her to go to attack alone.

"Asuka, this is no sports event. It's about the survival of mankind! So fair play is irrelevant!" Misato sharply reminded her.

"THERE!" Shinji shouted, as he saw the Angel jump out of the water.

Israfel enjoyed being at the daylight now. Standing uptight, he looked to the beach, and then couldn't hold back a chuckle. Unlike his other brothers and sisters, he hadn't a nearly psychotic hatred against these perversions made from his father. And there they were, two of them. A clever idea, if it had been one of the others.

But with him...

Israfel didn't even bother to move, that would spoil the surprise he had in store for them. _**Come! Come! I have a surprise for you. I have a surprise for you, **_he laughed, waiting for their move to attack him.

"Attack!" Misato ordered.

"You stay back, I attack the Angel!" Asuka then ran towards the Angel, her prog halberd in hands, not caring if Shinji followed or not. Now was her chance to prove herself!

Shinji was shocked for a second. "Misato! That's mad!" he finally said in horror as her saw Asuka running towards the Angel in the shallow waters. The Angel made no move.

"Asuka, what the hell are you doing there? I said attack together with Shinji!" Misato snapped into the comm.

But it was already too late. With a battle scream, Asuka jumped with Unit-02 up in front of the Angel, and slammed down her halberd exactly through the middle, effectively bi-secting the Angel, giving it only time to blink.

**-ssccclatsch-**

The two halves of the Angel fell apart, but strange enough, there was no blood. "Now that's more like it!" Asuka said triumphant, while looking at the seemingly destroyed Angel. Everyone was silent in awe. Little did they know that it had been so easy because the Angel wanted this to happen.

_**That hurt. That hurt. But now let me return the favor... But now let me return the favor...**_

Concentrating, Israfel now wanted to show them why his specialty was duality.

The body of the Angel trembled, the yin-yang face suddenly replaced with a different one and the still glowing core vanished. And suddenly both halves transformed into a perfect copy of the whole Angel, only at half the size, one grey, one orange, each having their own core and face.

Israfel was laughing now. _**Surprise! Surprise!**_

"HOW UNFAIR!" Misato screamed in anger.

Asuka had no time to react, before both halves grabbed Unit-02, slashed the cable, and then catapulted her away in teamwork with so so much force, that she felt that she was seeing funny colors. _That's not fair! _Two miles away, the EVA slammed into the ground head first, knocking Asuka out.

"Shinji! Retreat!" Misato ordered, while the personell was already busy with driving away as fast as possible. "You can't win this fight!"

Shinji didn't need to be convinced of that. Ejecting the power cable, he tried to run away along the road as fast as possible. But not fast enough before he got a strong particle plast into the leg, which had hit because his AT-field was down.

"Ahhh!" Shinji screamed in pain, the EVA, its leg damaged, fell down. Shinji however crawled further away, and barely heared a warning from Misato, which made him roll down into a much lower part of a crossing road.

_**Too easy. Too easy.**_

Israfel had to admit, this had been fun. And he had no desire to pursuit them, he would only go to free his father. He just wanted to pull himself back together, when a white flash blinded him for a second, then everything hurt...

_**to be continued...**_

_**Next Episode:**_

_**"Israfel, Part 2"**_


	10. Israfel Part 2

I will say these things in advance: I have absolutely no rights at NGE, but you should have already known that.

The story itself is basically a re-telling of the original storyline, but twisted into my way. While at the beginning there seem to be only few divigances, it will become more with each episode. The people, their motivations and the backgrounds are while holding true to the basic layout, changed at my imagination in many details, so canon-purists now are allowed to flame me.

NOTE: I hate both, the ending of the TV series, and how End of Evangelion turned out. So don't expect any of those outcomes.

This will be Shinji/Rei. Wow, the first time that an Episode is officially split in two by me! Feels like a raise in pay, doesn't it? Oh, and there is a scene, inspired by the Ranma storyline. Can you find it?

For all the work I put into this, I would like to get reviews. I will always try to respond to every review I get.

* * *

**Chapter 9: Israfel, Part 2**

Vice-Commander Fuyutsuki, Mr. Kaji, Shinji and Asuka sat in the darkened briefing room, listening to Lt. Ibuki informing them of the current situation after all the chaos that had happened in their confrontation with the seventh Angel.

"Today at 11:58 Unit-02 engaged the Angel. Only seconds later, both halves of the Angel attacked it by catapulting it away." A picture showed Unit-02, burried into the ground like a stake. "Captain Katsuragi ordered an immediate retreat, but Unit-01 was damaged by a particle beam from the Alpha-half of the target. Dr. Akagi rated the operation, I quote, 'a total failure'. The UN-forces took over and detonated an N2-bomb, damaging each half of the target to 28 percent. The targets have totally sealed themselves off with their AT-fields and are regenerating, estimated time, six days. This is the current situation," Maya reported to the gathered people.

Vice-Commander Fuyutsuki wasn't a happy man right now. Gendo had told him over the phone what he thought of that battle performance, or better: the lack of it. And he himself was also quite disappointed, especially at the reason why there hadn't been a co-ordinated attack. "We totally embarrassed ourselves. Now we again have to redraw the maps... And even worse, the Angel is only temporary stopped."

"At least this gives us time to think of a proper counter strategy. I heared Dr. Akagi is already busy with analysing the Angel and find the weak spot," Kaji commented, vowing to visit Ritsuko later. He had an idea, but would need her help for it. Tugging at the collar of his uniform, he wondered how long it would take to finally wear it in.

Fuyutsuki acknowledged this, then looked to the pilots, who were both less than happy. "Now to you two... What do you two think your job is?"

"Piloting EVA?" Asuka suggested.

"Protecting mankind from the Angels," Shinji answered to the question.

"Wrong, Pilot Soryu, but right, Pilot Ikari. NERV is there to defeat the Angels, and not to be a circus that gives the world a grotesque performance," he said with authority, looking hard to Asuka. Her ignoring the orders hadn't improved his mood in the slightest.

Shinji looked to Asuka, his anger at this total failure evident. "Thanks for blowing this sky high..." he growled.

Asuka blinked, before snarling. "What? It's your fault. You didn't cover me! You totally busted my grand debut in Japan!"

"What...?" Now he had enough of this shit.

The nerve of trying to give _him_ the fault for _her _recklessness in battle, a result of her huge ego, that was the final straw. Shinji finally blew his collar. "You...You damn IDIOT! You always run around with the great Asuka this, the great Asuka that, while in reality you are a total rookie! You ignored orders to statisfy your ego and your battle record is more important to you, than saving mankind! **You make me sick!**" he screamed at her, forgetting himself.

"Who do you think...?" Asuka want to scream back, but Shinji didn't give her the time to do so.

"Oh no. Just shut the fuck up! Shut - the - fuck - up! I have enough of this!" Seething, Shinji left the room. "The nerve!...Moron!..." The door closed behind him.

Asuka hadn't expected this outburst. She had never been treated like this since being selected as a pilot in early childhood. They had always given her anything she wanted, always acknowledged that she was _the_ pilot. They had treated her in Germany like royality, never saying something against her. (She always ignored two people, who she never wanted to think about, for reasons that always made her sick.) So being the target of such open anger was new to her.

But she recovered pretty fast from her surprise. "This little punk! When I get him into my fingers, I will..."

"You won't do anything of that sort, Pilot Soryu!" the Vice-Commander finally commanded, having enough of her acting like a spoiled brat. He had of course read her file, and knew that they had almost literally kissed her feet in the German base, but this went too far. Seeing her shut up, he continued, "Pilot Ikari did exactly as he was told. You on the other hand violated direct orders! NERV isn't there to boost anyone's ego, so I expect you in the future to work together with the other pilots more professionaly."

"I'm no team player," Asuka insisted, not daring to go directly against the old man, as he had the power to actually fire her.

"Then learn to be one. Because I order it." That said, he left the room to take care of some of the backslash of the failed battle. At least he wasn't the Captain, he was glad not to be in her shoes right now...

"Now I'm at fault for all of it?" Asuka snorted, trying to hide how deflated she really was.

"Grown-up people don't like being embarrassed by others," Mr. Kaji commented with a smirk.

Asuka hung her head. "How can this day get worse?" Asuka groaned. This really wasn't her day. "And where is Misato?" she asked, not having seen her guardian since the end of the battle.

Mr. Kaji couldn't help but to smile when remembering what exactly Misato had to deal with. "She was responsible for the mission, so she is now the scapegoat for the failure. Take three guesses what she now has to deal with..."

* * *

_...two hours later, Misato's office..._

Misato felt as if the Gods had decided to have their perverse fun with her.

She was swamped with ridiculous paperwork from people who were more concerned about the damage the battles cause to their property than the survival of mankind. All of the letters that littered her desk were of the same kind: _"I want compansation for the damage you caused, do your battles somewhere else." _And to top it off, the UN even wanted to be paid for the N2 they had dropped to stop the Angel.

_Looks like this will be a long, long day with Mr. Coffee as only company... _she groaned inwards while looking at the next complaint letter, whcih basically was the same as the last.

"Looks like you are busy."

Looking up, she saw Ritsuko looking at the huge pile of paper. "Har har har. Very funny, Ritsu. This is all the same stuff: _'destroy the Angels, but not in my backyard, so I want money'_. The PR-people wail, an the UN wants to be paid for their N2. That's a day where I hate my job... I should be working on the task how to defeat the Angel instead of this."

"Better be glad that Commander Ikari wasn't in city. He would have fired you outright, without wiating for any kind of excuse... Oh, did you hear of the little confontation between two of our pilots, too?" Ritsuko asked her. She herself her been told by Kaji what had happened.

Misato shook her her. "I did... After what I've seen over the week, this seems to have been the last straw for him. I guess Shinji now will no longer take this from her. This will be World War III..."

That was something she could live without. Last week had been bad enough. But now it literally screamed for a real escalation to a scale that would make her life hell as well. Misato really wondered what gods she had pissed off to deserve this.

"Oh, I think this actually will be good for her. After being treated like a princess for years, being less spoiled can only help." Ritsuko knew her file, and she knew her mental problems, while not an actual illness, made her the spoiled brat she now was. "Being confronted with reality sometimes helps."

"I doubt it." Leaning back, Misato sighed. "And even if this is the case, there is still this stupid Angel to get out of the way. Have you guys in science finally figured out how this Angel ticks and how to defeat it without blowing up all of Tokyo-3?"

"Oh, we have found its weak spot. And the solution is on this memory stick.." She held up the stick.

This brightened up Misato's mood considerably. "That's great, Ritsu! I knew you are a friend I can count on!" she said with a smile.

"Thanks, but the idea didn't come from me. It's all Ryoji's idea," Ritsuko corrected her, now smiling herself, revealing the message on the other side of the stick, complete with pink heart. She knew it was his idea of telling Misato that he actually missed her. She had told him again, using his arrogant playboy image would either make her angry, or scare her away. So he should by all gods, try to be himself towards her.

"Kaji?" She didn't want to speak his first name, they weren't that close, not anymore. Reading his message, she for a moment her features relaxing.

Ritsuko wondered if she still would think of the idea as so helpful once she knew what exactly had to be done. After the scene today, this was now even more complicated.

* * *

_...Misato's apartment, a little later..._

To say the atmosphere at the living room table was frosty was an understatement, and Misato felt it every second. Both, Asuka and Shinji, had nothing more to say to each other. Shinji was convinced now, that Asuka had a really thick stick pushed up her ass. And that so far that it should stick out of her mouth. Asuka meanwhile was miffed that Shinji had dared to scream all these things at her.

Shinji had spent the time since leaving NERV at Rei's home. She knew how catastrophic the whole thing had ended and Shinji told her of his falling out with Asuka, where he finally had lost his cool. Rei didn't react with dislike towards Asuka, but noted that it could be problematic for future missions if both of them couldn't stand each other. Asuka on the other hand had reatreated into her room, brooding over Shinji's tirade earlier the day. After the first anger had ebbed away, she was left with the confusion that someone had dared to yell at her. They didn't look at each other after Misato had called them.

_It takes a wonder for these two to work together now... _"Ok, as I said, we found out that the Angel has two cores, but they can only be destroyed while it is whole, otherwise they regenerate. That also means we have to stop the Angel from splitting when we destroy both cores at the same time. This means a perfect, synchronised timing in the EVAs," she explained to them.

"Sounds like there is a catch," Asuka realised, not liking the looks Misato gave them.

Misato pretended that she hadn't heared that. "To practise, you two will do everything together, in snych, living in one room."

"WHAT?" Shinji couldn't believe his ears. "You can't be serious." There was no way he would live together with Asuka in one room. Not after today!

"That's the one time I agree with you. No girl over seven lives together with a boy in the same room!" Asuka protested. "I have no desire seeing the result of his perverted dreams as the first thing in the morning. Why can't Wondergirl do it?"

Misato knew, she should have expected that. "Actually, that is an option, since she is back to full duty and her ratio is now statisfying. Is that really what you want, Asuka? I thought you are the best?" Misato asked her.

Asuka crossed her arms. "Yes! I am be the best you have, and I WILL prove that again and again, but no way I will sleep in the same room with a boy! Fame isn't worth that. Blue-head is so hot for him, she will of course do it at once. So count me out," she decided.

"All right...then Rei will live together with him in his room for the duration of the training," Misato decided. "Shinji, please ask Rei to come over, then I will instruct you two on the training."

Asuka wasn't thrilled that this frigid ice-block that called herself a girl would live in the same apartment as her, even if it was only for some days, but she felt that she had used up all bargaining room with Misato. At least she wouldn't be forced to sleep in the same room with him, for that, she even would blow out of this battle, the disgust at the mere idea simply was too strong. But the next Angel would feel that her pride from her abilities wasn't extarrergated.

Two minutes later, Misato explained the plan to Rei as well. "The whole attack is built around this 60 seconds long pice of music. So besides your synch-training, you will memorise the attack and the exact script. No error is allowed, or everything is over."

"Understood," Rei simply acknowledged, not seeing any need for more words.

"How long do we actually have?" Shinji asked her. Of course he had heared the time frame, but in all the anger that had followed, he had forgotten it.

"Six days. So prepare. Your training will start in one hour."

* * *

_...meanwhile..._

_**Arrrgh! Arrgh! **_Israfel groaned, while slowly regenerating. They had caught him in the worst moment, with his pants literally dropped. He had just wanted to pull himself back together, when the bomb had hit, hurting him pretty much. And to make it worse, he was forced to stay apart for a longer time.

He had never stayed apart for too long of a time, as it was unpleasant. Being whole was his normal modus operandi. All the pain had made him quite pissed. Now he was no longer amused. _**Wait! Wait! After I freed father, I will destroy your dwelling. After I freed father, I will destroy your dwelling. **_

He had been careless and played with them. Next time, he would blow every threat simply away, regardless if he was whole, or not at the time. _**No one hurts me, without paying the price... No one hurts me, without paying the price...**_

He winced again, when he felt another vene popping back into its right place. It would be long six days.

* * *

_...Three days later..._

"It's not like Shinji to stay away from school for three whole days... And Rei has gone missing, too. I wonder what is the matter now?" Kensuke wondered, while they were rising up the elevator to the right floor. Even him looking around in the school computer hadn't given any answers.

"And Asuka is strangely tight-lipped about it. I asked her about it, and she only said she doesn't want to speak about them. I even had no chance to tell her to bring them the school work they missed," Hikari added.

She didn't say that she also was concerned about her friend. For three days now, Asuka always looked as if she had to endure a prolonged period, phases of bad mood mixed with slight depression. Something was bothering her, and there had to be a reason for it. That Asuka was even making an abscense from her celebrity position only proved to her that it was something serious.

"Yeah, but it's also a relief, as it actually makes her presence much easier for me to endure," Toji added, only to recieve a really dirty look from Hikari. He at once fell apart like a cardbord box in a rainshower. "Please don't be angry! Sorry, but you know that we can't stand each other."

He eyes softened. "Remember, please stay civil to her."

Toji sighed. "You know I try all the time. But she riles me so up sometimes that I simply can't help it."

Kensuke barely surpressed a chuckle. "You two act as if you are married." For this comment, both of them smacked him on the head.

Finally they had arrived at the correct floor. Deciding that they should look after Shinji first, they pressed the doorbell. "On the way." "On the way." Their eyebrows raised in wonder. They knew the voices, but both of them at the same time with the same message, in perfect synch?

The door openend, and...

"Ah!" That was the only thing Kensuke managed to get out.

"What the hell?" and that was Toji.

Hikari looked at them, wondering in what kind of movie she had ended up. There were Rei and Shinji, yes, but both of them were wearing a sort of horrible spandex dancer's outfit that looked totally ridiculous, while having both trying to do exactly the same movements as the other.

"I had no idea that you two are this far along in your relationship!" Kensuke finally stammered. He was glad that he hadn't his camcorder with him, this would have bursted the lens.

"You two are distgusting, get a room!" Hikari finally got out, trying to shove back any thoughts of what these two could have done. She didn't want about things like that. Images of a american police boss and a pink ballett dancers outfit, both of which she had seen in a documentary, came to her mind. (1)

"No. It is not like that," "No. It is not like that," both of them denied.

"And what are we supposed to think?" Hikari snapped. The whole situation was surreal for her.

At this moment, Misato returned, Asuka in tow, who was unusually quiet. "Ah, we have guests."

"What the hell is going on here? And pease don't tell us, that you have decided to be a matchmaker..." Toji finally asked her, horribly confused by the whole scene. He had seen many things already, but nothing like that.

Some minutes later, everything was cleared up.

They were sitting at the livingroom table, watching Shinji and Rei using something that looked like two modified twister boards, where they trained to work better in synch. Judging by the low error rate, they were making good progress. Hikari however noticed the looks Asuka was giving these two, and something didn't add up for her. Asuka had decided on her own to let Rei do the job, so why was she now giving Rei and Shinji these strnage looks? She could have sworn...

"You could have told us a word. Sounds totally crazy, but after the stuff I've already witnessed, I think it will work," Toji laughed. "It reminds me of tag-team wrestling, only that both fight at the same time."

"How long are they actually along?" Kensuke asked Misato. He vowed, he would catch the fight on film, even if it meant to again get into trouble. When did you have the chance to catch a perfect snych-attack on an Angel on film? That was his chance!

"Look for yourselves...they make good progress. By the time we attack, they will be ready," Misato answered. "They are really a perfect match."

Finally, Asuka seemed to have enough. "Hikari, can I please speak with you? Alone."

Hikari found this request a little unusual, but it seemed that Asuka needed some girl-talk without any witnesses. "Let's go outside..."

The others watched them leave. "Great...What now?" Toji wasn't happy about this. He was sure, Hikari would walk home after they were done with talking.

Walking down the stairs, both girls stepped outside into the sunshine. Sitting down on a bench under a big tree, Hikari waited to hear what Asuka had on her heart. Hopefully this would finally clear up Asuka's sour mood. She did not have to wait too long.

"Hikari, how can I first despise someone, and now want the same person?" Asuka asked her, looking quite desperate.

Hikari blinked. "Who do you mean, Asuka?" Of course she had a suspiction, but she kept this to herself.

Asuka took off her neural receptors, looking at them. "I speak about Shinji. I first thought of him as I think of all of the boys, that they are useless and weak, but now, after he showed so much spine against me. I first hated him for that. But now...after having to watch him with the First Child every day, them sleeping in the same room..."

Finally it dawned on Hikari, what actually was wrong with Asuka. "You are jealous! You see what Ayanami shares with him, and wish you had all this instead of her."

"Not only that. A part of me still hates him, while another found interest in him. He is the first one who actually didn't back off. But he is with that blue-haired doll...oh, how much I hate her," Asuka growled. It was as if her dislike had shifted to a good part from Shinji to Rei.

"If you really don't like Ayanami, then why did you allow her to take the place in this mission? I thought you want to be the best there is?" Hikari carefully asked her. Matters of the heart were always a serious problem, and she had no desire to make it worse.

"I wish I did...now. But now it's too late, and I can't do anything about it..." Asuka said with regret. _At least for now... I will prove that I'm better than her! Then he will come to me on his own after he finally realised his error._

Hikari felt, that the last word was said about this, yet. Jealously was a very dangerous thing, as it tended to make people do stupid things. Hopefully Asuka would resist the temptation to try and put a wedge between Rei and Shinji. It wouldn't end well, and in the end, everyone would get hurt. She really hoped Asuka would leave it alone.

But she also knew that hope was always the last thing to die.

* * *

_...later, at night..._

Shinji couldn't sleep. Unlike Rei, who was the literal picture of being at peace. Shinji had to think about Asuka's strange behaviour of the last days. After the initial anger, which he had expected, her behaviour had changed. Every time she saw him and Rei... he couldn't describe it. But she had become strangely quiet and he had caught her giving Rei icy looks.

He had no idea what this all was about, and he hoped that he never had to find out. He actually prefered the angry, bitchy Asuka over this one, despite her being more bearable now, that she mostly stayed silent.

His thoughts turned to Rei. Being forced to be with her almost all the time gave them much time to further their relationship, at whatever stage it was right now. Rei was still a girl with a number of mysteries, but they were her personal mysteries, and she would tell him when she felt that she was ready for it. Rei was still naive in many things, but she was making progress.

"Shinji..."

Hearing Rei, he wanted to ask her what the matter was, but then noticed that she actually was still asleep, speaking in her sleep. Curious, he watched her, wondering why she seemed to be dreaming of him.

"Hmmm...Shinji?...What?..." Shinji could see some movement from under the blanket. "Ohh..." a little drool escaped Rei's mouth. "Do not understand...but good..."

Shinji turned away, so that he hadn't had to look at her. He now knew what she was dreaming, and he felt ashamed that he was invading this personal space of hers. But it also showed him that deep within her, she really cared for him, her body sending clear signals to her subconciousness. Thankfully she stayed silent now, he only heared some movement, then Rei returned to peaceful sleep.

Feeling his boxers being a little to tight after his own reaction to Rei's actions had manifested, Shinji couldn't help but to imagine himself... No, he wouldn't sink to that level. He wouldn't think of her like that.

_She is more than that! And I respect her, _he vowed.

But that didn't help to erase these pictures from his mind while finally difting to sleep.

Morning however, came sooner than Shinji would have liked. Especially since he and Rei had to get up sooner than normally. He had less sleep, and it was noticeable as he nedded several minutes to finally get out of bed.

Greeting the new day with a loud yawn, Shinji didn't register most of his surroundings. Thus he also didn't see that Rei was missing from the room, already up and about. He hadn't slept much. Staggering to the bathroom, he decided that he needed a warm shower to become really awake. While he stripped naked in the fore-room, he totally ignored everything else around him.

Finally being done, he opened the door to the bathroom, and stopped in his tracks.

Rei had gotten up early. She always had been an early riser. So leaving the room without accidently awakening Shinji, she had retreated to the bathroom, to prepare for the day. While stripping naked, she had noticed her panties being sticky with something, but had no idea what this could be. The warm shower had eased up her still tired muscles. Even she had her limits, after all. After drying herself, she just wanted to open the door, when suddenly it was opened form the other side...

Rei and Shinji both stopped, looking at each other. Totally in synch, they looked into the eyes, then down, then back up, again looking into the eyes, then repeated this two times, not saying a word. Finally Shinji started to blush, and Rei followed suit. Other than last time, where she hadn't reacted at all, this time her reaction was much more normal, a cute blush reddening her whole face, extending down as low as her chest.

"..." Rei had no idea what she should say in this situation. She only knew this time, that she felt embarrassed. But strangely enough, something in her told her, that being like this in front of Shinji was all right.

Shinji knew a little better, what to say. "Uhhh... Rei..I..Sorry, I had no idea that you were in here."

"I hadn't put out the sign," Rei replied. Since Asuka had moved in, there was a sign that could be put on the bathroom door, to show that it was occupied. Asuka had been horrified, that the bathroom door also had no lock, and had insisted on this to prevent any trouble.

"So in a way we are both at fault?" Shinji asked.

For Rei, this made the most sense. "This seems the logical conclusion."

Then both of them noticed that they were still naked, standing only a meter apart, while they had talked. Shinji stepped aside, allowing Rei to leave the bathroom. As soon as he was himself in it, he closed the door. _Oh man...that had to be the most bizarre thing that had happened to me. What the hell is going on with me? That's already the third time I see a girl totally naked. Ok, she is a looker, but that's no excuse!_

Rei meanwhile was busy with dressing. She didn't know why, but she couldn't forget what she had seen. That, and her own reaction. Why hadn't she even bothered to cover up? _Do I actually enjoy showing myself to Shinji like this? _It would make sense, but it didn't answer why she still had felt that this was indecent.

She was busy in the kitchen with breakfast, all these lessons from Shinji finally paid off, so that she by now was able to create breakfast totally on her own, when Shinji walked in, now dressed. Misato and Asuka were nowhere in sight, propably still sleeping, as the two of them had gotten up early. They sat silent at the table, until Rei finally decided to break the silence with a question.

"Shinji, did you like what you saw?" she asked him.

"Uhh.." He now really had to think what to say. Finally, he decided that the truth was best. "Yes, I did like it, you are a real looker. I..I know it was an accident, but it was a beautiful view."

Rei wondered how often in the near future it would happen that the blood would gather in her head, as she reddened a little on her cheeks when hearing Shinji say, that he had enjoyed looking at her. "I...I actually enjoyed what I saw, too," Rei admitted. She suspected that it had something to do with human courtship behaviour that she had inspected his body, but she would have to read about it later.

"Then I guess there is no damage done... But I think we should try to stop meeting like this," Shinji said slightly amused, regaining his humor, now that he knew that Rei wasn't angry.

"YYYAAAWWWWN!"

"This must be Misato," Shinji realised. Asuka never made such sounds. He was sure, their training would begin as soon as Misato was awake enough, usuall after the second coffee of the morning. And Asuka was now bearable, with her holding back the bitchy princess, for whatever reason.

Seeing his still sleepy guardian stagger into the bathroom, Shinji set up the table for two more people.

* * *

_...Day 5, at NERV..._

"Hello Misato."

_Of all the rotten luck... _she cursed inwards. She had run to catch the elevator, and hadn't seen that Ryoji Kaji was already in it. That meant several minutes alone with him. Something she wasn't really eager for. For most of that time, she managed to ignore him, but finally when she literally could feel him looking at her, she couldn't stand it any more.

"There is nothing more between us! I will never be like in the past days, finally accept it,"she said with steel in her voice.

"You say that, while your body language speaks a different language," he told her with a smirk. "The more you try to deny it, the more you seem to prove your own words wrong."

"Wishful thinking!" Misato snorted.

The door opened to the level Kaji had selected. "Really? I don't think even you yourself believe that. But you look quite cute, when you are angry," he added with another smirk, before the doors closed between them, the elevator continuing its descent.

Misato leaned against the back wall. This had been harder than she had thought it would be. Taking a deep breath, she tried to push him out of her mind. Finally the elevator arrived at her level and she walked to the observation lounge, where Ritsuko was already waiting for her.

"I really need that now, thanks Ritsu!" she thanked her for the offered coffee.

Taking off her glasses, Ritsuko saw the clear signs of stress on her friend. "You look quite beaten up. Is it because of your workload, or because of a man?" she asked her.

"A lot of things..." Misato answered cryptically, looking through the big windows over the geofront. She had no desire to talk with her about Kaji.

_Then it must be a man. And I can only think of one man, who can rile her up like this... _"Seems you still have a thing for Ryoji," she noted almost absently, while giving her own cup a refill.

**-prrrotsh- **"-occhot- occhot-" Misato coughed out her coffee, which had went into the wrong pipe. "That's not funny! I was young and naive back then. It was the biggest error of my life! You can have him, if you want!" she shot back with force.

Ritsuko couldn't help it, but Misato had already proved her point. "Ryoji seems still to be quite taken by you... but you really seem to still harbour something for him as well," she observed.

"Ritsuko, there is nothing!" Misato yelled louder than she had intended.

Ritsuko now knew for sure, there was more. "Oh really, then why all this anger? The more you deny it, the more you prove my point. He was also different back then, so why do you still deny him a second chance?"

"He will never change, never grow up." Misato didn't sound very convincing.

Ritsuko knew, there was nothing more to expect from Misato for now, so a change of topic seemed to be the best for now. "Ok, let's leave it at that... How is training with the Children coming along?" she changed the topic, coming to safer ground.

That was something Misato could speak about more freely. "Very good. They are both ready and work perfectly together. Almost as if they are made for each other. And they look quite happy together. I don't even want to think how training with Asuka would have worked out."

"Speaking of her, is the battle still up?" Ritsuko hadn't heared anything of it since the day of the confrontation.

"No, which surprises me. Sure, Asuka shoots looks at Rei that freeze hell over, but otherwise she holds back surprisingly much. It's almost as if she is brooding over something. She is even stranger than back in Europe," Misato openly admitted.

"I feared it would lower her synch-ratio, but after the test today, we have been assured that she had recovered and it was only a temporary drop. So it can't be serious," Ritsuko told her. "But that's now not important. Tomorrow is the day of battle..."

"Yup. And this time, we will show the Angel of what kind of wood we are made of," Misato concluded, confident that this time, they would leave the battlefield as the winners. If not, they would be all dead anyway.

* * *

_...day of the battle..._

_**Do they plan to annoy me to death? Do they plan to annoy me to death? **_Israfel wondered, while walking towards Tokyo-3. The aircraft and helicopters were observing him the whole time, flying around him like a swarm of insects. At least they were smart enough to realise, that their weapons would be useless against him.

He didn't even bother to shoo them away and ignored them. His target was near, he could feel it, the call getting louder with each meter. _**No time to loose. No time to loose. So let's go. So let's go.**_

"The Angel has appeared at the outer edge of the Tokyo-3 district border, approaching our position," Lt. Aoba reported. Everyone on the bridge saw the huge Angel on the main screen walking through the narrow valley leading towards the city.

Really everyone was gathered beside the bridge crew. Misato, Dr. Akagi, Mr. Kaji, Vice-Commander Fuyutsuki and even Asuka, who wanted to watch the battle. Only Commander Ikari was missing. He would only return to Tokyo-3 the next day, his work at the UN in New York having bound him longer than expected.

"Yes...but this time, we will give it the proper treatment," Misato said, then adressed the pilots. This would be the first real battle for Unit-00, but they had been assured that everything would work fine. "Raise your fields as soon as the music starts, and stick exactly to the movements your studied, all right?"

"Understood." "Understood." Both of them were now only concentrating on the task before them. One error, and they would be history.

"Angel now reaching the city limits," Lt. Hyuga reported, the screen showing the Angel approaching. "Very close to the attack zone."

"All right! Out with the cables, then launch, and start music!" Misato ordered.

Israfel watched the two EVAs shooting out of their starting ramps, into the sky. _**So, now what? So, now what? **_To his surprise they were doing everything in synch, throwing their knives at him, forcing him to split. _**Should I laugh? Should I laugh?**_

They then grabbed weapons and shot at both of him, again totally in synch and afterwards evaded every single of his own blasts with a number of backflips. That they dared to copy him made him quite pissed. _**Who do you think you are? Who do you think you are?**_

Angry, he shot a combined beam with both of his halves, but only hit a armour plate that suddenly shot out of the ground, covering both EVAs. Jumping, both his halves landed in front of the plate, slicing it into pieces, but his foes simply jumped to both sides.

_**Raaahg! Raaahg! **_That they played games with him was now REALLY pissing him off. He now knew, after he was done with them, he would leave nothing behind of the dwelling. _**What the...? What the...? **_Suddenly he was blinded when the fire was opened on him from all sides, obscuring his enemies.

_**Ahh! Ahh! Ohh! Ohh! **_Both his enemies suddenly appeared in front of both of his, slamming their fist first in his gut, followed by an uppercut and kick against the chest, slamming both his halves together, forcing him to become one again.

Before he could react, both of them jumped high into the air, then slammed their foots into his chest, the sheer impact power pushing them far outside the city. _**Ooof! Ooof! **_Then Israfel felt it. His cores! Both his cores were breaking exactly in synch, while he was whole! He couldn't allow this! But the sheer impact power made it unable for him to react.

_**No! No! I don't want to die! I don't want to die!...Please nooooooooooooooooo! **_For the first, and last time in his life, at the brink of death, Israfel spoke with one voice. Then both of his cores broke at the same time.

**-BBBRRROOOOOOMMMMM-**

Everyone on the bridge waited until the dust had settled, the see a huge crater outside of Tokyo-3. The Angel was gone, and both of the EVAs seemed all right, but piled on each other at the ground of the new hole in the area.

"Sensors show that both Units are without a scratch, and the pilots are all right," Lt. Ibuki reported. "But if we want to get them out of there, we need heavy machinery."

Leaving his entry plug, Shinji saw Rei climbing up his EVA to join up with him, her own entry plug near his own, thanks to the grotesque way both Units were piled on each other. "We did it, Rei! We defeated the Angel!"

"Yes, it is defeated," Rei acknowledged.

Looking around, Shinji realised that they would not get out of the big hole without help. "Looks like we have to wait for them getting us out of here..."

"There is something I think this occassion is fitting for," Rei said, sitting down in front of him.

"Really? What is it?" Shinji asked, curious what Rei could mean.

Shinji didn't expect what came next. Rei kissed him on the lips, very careful and almost shy. After the first surprise, Shinji really enjoyed it. Finally, their lips parted again. "This is what is supposed to happen between boyfriend and girlfriend. And I have read about a kiss to the victor."

Shinji really liked it, especially since this was his first kiss. "A kiss to the victor? Then let me return the favor, as you are also one..."

Shinji then kissed Rei, a little deeper than she had. Rei also was at first surprised, but then gladly accepted it, as it felt right. Everything she had read about it didn't even come close to the real thing. She could imagine doing this more often.

Thankfully none of them knew, that the picture was transmitted to the bridge, where everyone was clapping their hands in applause. Asuka on the other hand looked at the screen with ice in her eyes, the jealously spiking within her to a new hight. After seeing this, she now even more wanted to prove to him, that the First Child wasn't the right one. Why Rei? What had Rei what she hadn't?

Vice-Commander Fyutsuki couldn't hold back a smile. He knew that Gendo wouldn't be pleased about this. He actually would be really annoyed. But there was nothing he could do against it. Replacing Rei now would destroy his scenario, and he couldn't send away the Third Child. Meaning that he had to swallow this toad.

"Interesting times, indeed..." he mused.

* * *

_...unknown place..._

"Looks like NERV did it again. They again defeated an Angel. But enough of this. When can our operation 'Fort Knox' start?" a man asked several others, after having watched the footage of the battle.

"It will take time. We have to be very careful, otherwise we will be detected. But with enough time, we will be able to size the object from NERV," one of the men reported with confidence.

"Very good...Take all the time you need. But we need to get the object."

_**to be continued...**_

(1) To understand this better, read something about the FBI-boss J. E. Hoover.

_**Next Episode:**_

_**"Red and Blue do not mix"**_


	11. Red and Blue do not mix

I will say these things in advance: I have absolutely no rights at NGE, but you should have already known that.

The story itself is basically a re-telling of the original storyline, but twisted into my way. While at the beginning there seem to be only few divigances, it will become more with each episode. The people, their motivations and the backgrounds are while holding true to the basic layout, changed at my imagination in many details, so canon-purists now are allowed to flame me.

NOTE: I hate both, the ending of the TV series, and how End of Evangelion turned out. So don't expect any of those outcomes.

This will be Shinji/Rei. Jealously is a bad advisor, as Asuka will see now.

For all the work I put into this, I would like to get reviews. I will always try to respond to every review I get.

* * *

**Chapter 10: Red and Blue do not mix**

It had been over two weeks now, since the last Angel had been defeated.

Shinji stood in front of the bathroom mirror, looking at himself after he had gotten out of the shower. Looking at himself, he saw that puberty was starting to slowly transform him from a boy into a man, something he had already noticed for some time now. Some years ago, he had been the literal picture of a total weakling. Now he looked much better. Sure, not even nearly as strong as Toji, and he propably wouldn't be as he was no sports fan as Toji was, but enough that he didn't look like a nerd.

Feeling his chin, he found no trace of hairs there yet. But he knew, in a year or two, he would have to learn how to shave. He had noticed recently the very fine hairs on his legs, still practically invisible to the eye. And of course there was ...other body hair already having established a steady growth. Yep, he definitely had started his way to slowly become a man, but it was still a long way.

_I might like this, but I hope I don't grow too fast. I don't want to go through the fitting procedure for the plugsuit again so soon! _Shinji suddered when remembering the last time. Throwing the towel on the rack, he searched for the toothpaste.

Brushing his teeth, his thoughts dwelled on the last two weeks.

Work at NERV had become a routine. His synch-ratio had risen to almost 60 in the simulator by now, quite a jump. Dr. Akagi had told him, that he must have gained confidence. He had talked a little with the bridge crew. Nice people, but everyone of them was a little odd. Lt. Ibuki was a nice woman, but threw around almost as much technobabble as Dr. Akagi. Lt. Hyuga was kind of a nerd, but good to talk to. Lt. Aoba was the strangest of them, and his worldview could only be described as very pessimistic. But on the other hand, the guitar demo tape he had given him was really good.

He had met his father only once, right after he had returned from New York. His old man had demanded to know what he thought he was doing with Rei. He had told him that it concerned him a fuck what he and Rei were doing, of course worded much more diplomatically, he didn't want to risk getting fired.

_As if YOU are the big role model, old man! So stay the fuck out of my relationships. You have lost every right to interfere, so leave me alone... _he thought, angry. The nerve alone to demand this had flared defiance in him.

His thoughts turned to people closer than his sorry excuse of a father.

Asuka slowly again became annoying. Beside her bragging about her own skills, she now always tried to hang out with him. He by now really wished back the agressive Asuka, who hated his guts and avoided him. Rei had said nothing about it yet, but he was sure that she had noticed this by now. New was, that Asuka now told him that she was better than Rei, as if she and Rei were now in a sort of competition.

_What the hell is the matter with her? First she hates my guts, and now she can't get enough of me, while dragging Rei through the dirt. Good thing that Rei doesn't seem to mind at all, and simply ignores her. I will never understand girls...what a relief that Rei isn't like most girls, _he thought, asking himself the millenia old question of what went on in a female's head.

Rei...thinking of her was much more pleasant for Shinji. After the victory kiss two weeks ago, both of them had shared several more of these moments, when they were sure to be alone, slowly becoming bolder with each kiss, as the last one yesterday had been open-mouthed. Thinking of Rei, he knew he had to ask Hikari to help him. The only clothes Rei owned, beside her plugsuit and undergarments, were several school uniforms. After helping her to master a number of everyday activities (how the hell could she have not known how to boil water? Shinji credited this to his old man), he felt that he should help her with this next.

But no way he would ask Asuka for help. Not only would she most likely decline, since he knew her opinion of Rei, but he also feared that should she actually agree, which would be a devine event, she would advise Rei in the worst way to make her look like something Shinji didn't dare to speak out aloud..

No, he still needed a girl to help him, and Hikari was the only one available. He himself had no idea of girl fashion. Hopefully this would get Rei to wear something else than her school uniform in her free time.

Shinji spat out the foam, and sighed when he thought about one another aspect of Rei. Since the...incident, he couldn't get _that _picture of Rei out of his head, forcing him to take care of the...problem several times. Before her, he had shyly looked after girls, but now he had fallen quite hard for one. He felt that if that went on, he needed to ask a grown-up man for advice. Most likely his uncle, since he had been married after all.

_'Episode IX' (1) starts in the cinemas in three days. I should buy two cards... _he thought, while dressing for school. _Hmm...she could think of it as a date...ah, stupid. Neither of us two knows what to do on a date. We just want to have some entertainment._

Vowing to buy two cinema cards after school, Shinji walked into the kitchen to prepare breakfast, hearing Asuka digging through her closet for a fresh uniform. He mentally prepared himself for another day with the new, scary Asuka, and polite declining of any ideas she would have.

At the same time, Rei was in her bathroom.

After she had showered and dryed herself, she was busy with combing her hair. Her _longer_ hair, as cancelling all haircutter appointments had started to show the first results after a month. Two more, and she would have her hair reaching down below her shoulders. But to keep it in shape meant more maintenance, such as combing it.

Being done, Rei looked into the mirror. Since her activation over three years ago, she had changed. While she had ignored it before, she now watched the changes in her observantly. Despite her mixed heritage, not being naturally born, she was now in human puberty, and thus she was slowly growing from girl to woman. Her frame had become curvier, and her breasts had grown quite a bit, starting to become firm and round. Feeling over her leg, Rei felt no trace of hair there. A side-effect of the Angel DNA. Beside two places, she had no body hair at all, but after what she had read about woman removing it, it was no loss.

The only two places where she had body hair, where her armpits, and at the junction of her legs. While she had read that a number of woman remove it, her armpit hair had never bothered her, so she didn't shave it. The same went for the other place, only that she now didn't even think anymore about removing it, not after Shinji seemed to have been fascinated with it already two times.

Rei put her hand flat on her belly. Despite her maturing, she would never become a full woman, even if she would live past her purpose. Where her womb had been, was now the special S2 they had grown from her cells. Where her cervix should have been, was only a sewn shut dead end. And while her ovaries still produced hormones, the tubes were sewn shut as well. Basically, they had amputated a part of her.

As far as she knew, the clones were still in the original condition, as they only copied her outer apperance while growing up in synch with her. But that was useless, because as soon as her soul would have entered a new body, they would repeat the procedure on that one, too. So she had simply accepted it as something that was this way, and moved on as if nothing was amiss.

_I should not dwell on these things... _brushing her teeth and putting her school uniform on, she walked into the kitchen.

She remembered the last two weeks. Shinji was really nice to her, and they became bolder with their kissing each time. She also had some...interesting dreams, she couldn't describe, that had some strange effects on her sleeping body. She had no idea that dreaming could be this nice.

She had a strange confrontation with the Commander two weeks ago. Why would he order her to stop seeing Shinji? Since it didn't impact on her role, she saw no reason for this order, so she had asked for the reason, only to be sent away, ordered to forget all this. Of course she would have obeyed the order to stop seeing Shinji, but the idea alone had created a sick feeling in her stomach. Thankfully, the Commander seemed to have changed his mind.

Then she felt something bitter flash in her, when she remembered the behaviour of the Second Child. Asuka tried to always hang out with him, while always comparing herself with her, only that Soryu always saw herself as the winner. Rei totally ignored Asuka dragging her through the dirt, she simply didn't think it would acomplish anything to correct her.

But Asuka forcing herself on Shinji in such an obvious way... Rei had next to no experience with these things, but her heart knew what it didn't like. _If Pilot Soryu insists to continue these course of action, I will point out to her, that it will accompish nothing._

Because of her very limited social knowledge, she had no idea that she was about to put a stick into a hornet's nest.

* * *

_...during the day, deep inside NERV..._

Dr. Akagi couldn't help but to chuckle, when watching the clones of Rei in the Room of Graff. The clones mirrored the outer apperance of the main Rei, the one alive. Each time Rei had a memory backup, the clones would react to a changed apperance, and adapt to it, essentially preserving the mirror-look. It had to be a side-effect of the Angel DNA, so much she knew.

It was interesting, because all of the clones now had started to grow their hair longer the same way the active Rei did, the length very actual as the last memory dump had been yesterday at Sunday. Lowering the blinds, she walked to the elevator.

_Well, Gendo, looks like Rei is no longer your plaything. Now you have only me... _she thought. But she wasn't really happy. In the last time, it felt like Gendo was keeping things from her, and the mystery of Unit-00 was still in her mind. She had found no data about some aspects of the prototype EVA, meaning that someone had deleted it.

But why would someone do something like that? Only to hide something no one else should know. But what, Ritsuko had no clue.

* * *

_...at the same time, Gendo's office..._

Gendo was thinking. The whole situation was absolutely not to his taste. Rei was supposed to be his tool to accomplish his goals. Nothing more. She was supposed to exist only for that purpose. He hadn't been pleased to see that Rei got ideas that weren't to his liking. And the footage of her and the Third Child directly after the victory over the seventh Angel had been the last straw. She wasn't created to feel love, it made him feel as if he was losing control.

Of course the situation was difficult, not allowing for easy solutions. He had no way to send his son away now, Unit-01 would become useless, and what were his plans worth, if the Angels actually managed to destroy them? No, Shinji had managed to get into a position, where his removal would have dire consequences.

_Damn you, Yui... Why do you make things complicated by only allowing him to pilot the EVA? _he mentally grumbled.

And of course there was Rei. The option to dispose of this Rei and activate the third... He had toyed with it, but Dr. Akagi had shot it down. Since Rei needed memories in her new body, otherwise she was totally useless, they either would have to use the last backup, which would only continue the problem, or the basic memory template, which would make her useless for piloting. Meaning: replacing her was also impossible until the time was right. And the right time was still quite far away.

So he was back to square one.

Of course, the first thing he did was to confront them. Shinji had basically told him to mind his own business, only worded diplomatically enough that it wasn't an offense. Since it was nothing NERV-related, there was no way he could force him. And he remembered when he had called Rei into his office shortly later.

_...flashback, two weeks ago..._

_"Commander?" Rei asked, standing before his desk._

_"I was notified that you have started a relationship with the First Child. I want you to stop it," Gendo ordered her, thinking that this already was it. However..._

_"Why?" Rei asked. "It does not impact on either the scenario nor my battle performance."_

_Gendo was shocked. Had Rei just questioned his decision? He hadn't been prepared for this. And of course the true reason was, that he disliked Rei acting as more than just a tool. He could still replace her at the right time, he only had no desire to see Rei, wearing Yui's face, kissing his son, while she was supposed to be a mindless tool of his._

_This defiance meant that ordering her now wouldn't work anymore, he wrongly concluded. "Forget this order. Now go."_

_...back to the present..._

Gendo had brooded over it, and it stayed the same. He had no official way to force them to stop. And any less-legal ways would ruin their worth as pilots, creating the danger of the Angels defeating them in the end, effectively again bringing him back to square one.

This all simply had happened because Shinji was so strong-willed. He cursed his decision to send him to Kaldor. If he had sent him to any kind of guardian with little interest in his welfare, then he would have been weak-willed and a perfect tool, willingly following orders.

"You shouldn't think so much about it. I do not think it will significantly alter our scenario. Rei is still totally devoted to the cause," Vice-Commander Fuyutsuki said, while removing another piece from the Mah-Jong board. "And remember that in the end, it doesn't matter. So our personal dislikes have to stay back."

_Yes, and I hope nothing of this happens. I prefer the world as it is now... _he mentally added. He wouldn't dare to say it aloud.

"Really?" Gendo simply asked him. He knew very well that Fuyutsuki had never been thrilled of Rei's upbringing.

The Vice-Commander didn't answer this, and removed another piece from the board, leaving Gendo to his brooding. He knew, he would adapt to this situation soon, he always did. Changing the topic, he said: "SEELE seems to be statisfied with us in the last weeks. It can only be good for us that they don't any longer watch every single of our steps."

"The old men are irrelevant. They think they control us. They have no idea that they themselves are the pawns," Gendo answered in dismissal. "They are a evil we have to tolerate for now. So leave them with the illusion of control."

_Better don't be so dismissing of them. You know what they are capable of, so don't take them so easy... _Fuyutsuki thought. There was a fine line between being sure of yourself because you are right, and unjustified arrogance. That Gendo had managed up to now to perfectly balance on this line was testament to his manipulative skills.

* * *

_...after school, Tokyo-3 shopping mall..._

_Well, that had been easier than I had thought, _Shinji thought, while he sat there, waiting for Hikari and Rei to finish their purchases. No way he would go together with two girls into a clothing store. These things were death-traps for males. So after purchasing the two cinema cards for Episode IX, he was now waiting for them.

Hikari had been happy to help Rei, and Rei, despite not understanding why she would need something other than her school uniform, went along. Toji said that he would have liked to come along, but he had sports practise, so he had to bail out.

_Sports practise...my ass. I know he had been in the shopping mall one time with Hikari. Guess that had been enough for him. _Shinji found it fascinating that despite the fact that Hikari was not the stereotype of the girly girl, actually a number of her mannerisms were the opposite of it, she still managed to create the dreaded shopping-death trip for boys.

Toji really liked Hikari, but he had no desire to again go through that, so he had bailed out. So now here he was, alone, reading a manga he had brought, while waiting for them to finish and let himself surprise what she would wear when leaving the shop.

"Oh, hello Shinji!"

_I know that voice too well.._ Shinji mentally groaned.

Lowering the manga, he saw that it was Asuka, wearing the yellow sundress he had seen her wearing on the carrier. "Hello Asuka." He wasn't very enthusiastic to see her. She was a girl of extremes, from hating him to not getting enough of him. But guessing by her shopping bag, it was pure coincidence that they met this time.

"Why the long face? It's a beautiful day, and everyone should be happy," Asuka quipped, good mooded.

"Ah, nothing. I'm waiting for Rei and Hikari to finally finish with Rei's purchases. Hikari offered to help Rei with it. But they are needing awfully long in there," Shinji said, hoping that it would not take too long. It was not that he hated Asuka, but her emotional extremes were really making him wonder what the real 'her' was.

"Seems you have no clue of girls... And why does Wondergirl need help with buying clothes? It's not that she is a little kid," Asuka snorted, making no secret that it didn't help her opinion of Rei.

Shinji hated her spreading her poison against Rei. "Her sheltered life, thanks to my old man, is responsible. You wouldn't believe how much had been held back from her."

"Yeah, yeah, I've heared it all," she dismissed it. "So what the hell does make her so special?" she now wanted to know. It was a insult to Asuka that a frigid girl with knowledge of nothing would be considered more attractive than her.

"There is something...I can't describe it," Shinji tried to explain, but failed. "Sorry, there is something that drawn me to her, but I can't put it into words."

Asuka arched her eybrows. How the hell should she compete with Ayanami, if she had no idea, what her secret was? To her it proved that while some boys could be interesting, all of them were clueless. "Right..."

"Shinji, we are done!"

Hearing Hikari, Shinji looked to the store entrance and couldn't help but to smile. There was Rei, carrying two shopping bags. Instead of her school uniform, she was now wearing blue jeans and a green shirt. He could glimpse her uniform in one of the bags. "Excuse me..." Standing up, he walked over to the two girls. "This looks good, Rei."

"Thank you," she answered a little unsure. She still didn't really see the point, althrough she had to admit, these clothes were quite comfortable.

Hikari shook her head. "I really wonder what your father has done to her... I've never before met a girl with such a simple taste. Almost everything we brought for her is a variaton of this. You can thank me, that I conviced her to buy two nice ones, too, that are more fitting for a girl."

Rei looked to where Shinji had sat, and she felt something cold stir in her. There was Asuka, dessed in a sundress, which meant that she again had tried to linger around Shinji. She had no way to logically explain it, but Asuka's actions made her feel...angry. All these emotions were so confusing for her.

"Hey, Hikari!" Asuka greeted the brown-haired girl, walking over to her. "I was just browsing the mall, when I met Shinji. What do you say, want to tag along with me?"

"Sure! Come, there is something I want to check out..." Hikari didn't say it, but she had seen Rei's eyes narrowing. Rei Ayanami, who hadn't shown any emotions for almost two years. This meant trouble.

She had witnessed the drama taking place in the school time. Despite her warnings, Asuka tried to make an impression on Shinji. But her methods were very doubtful. Trying to make an impression on Shinji by trash-talking Rei was a bad idea. Shinji was annoyed, but ignorant of Asuka's motives. Hikari knew, it would blow up sooner or later. But for now she had prevented a scene.

_Poor Asuka...she will only get hurt, regardless what outcome... _she thought, while leading Asuka away, making her forget Shinji and Rei for now.

Shinji had no idea what had just happened. In his perspective, Hikari had just invited Asuka to girl-activities. Rei on the other hand was not sad that Asuka was now gone. The sick feeling in the pit of her stomach was now gone.

"Well, Rei, how does it feel to wear something else besides school uniforms?" Shinji asked her with a smile.

"They are comfortable. But I still do not understand the point at having different clothes," she openly admitted.

"Oh, trust me, you will, with time. It's one of these things you can't explain. I think for now it's enough to say that you look good in these. Who said that girls can't wear pants?" Shinji said.

Rei answered with a shy smile.

Shinji could never get enough of these angelic smiles from her. Counting the Yen bills in his hand, he saw that it was more than enough. "I'm in the mood for a big vanilla milkshake right now. What do you say, want one, too? The Gentleman pays, of course..."

It went without saying that Rei said yes. After introducing her to the world of ice cream, he knew that he had again proven the clichè, that the best way to a girl's heart goes through her stomach, and the key is ice cream.

* * *

_...that night..._

Waking up in the middle of the night, Rei was sweating. She remembered the nightmare that her disturbed her so much. It was so simple. It just showed Pilot Soryu walking with Shinji, hand in hand, towards the sunset, with her watching them. But this had been enough to make her panic, and wake her up sweat-soaked.

Many things had happened to her in the last months. Things that had changed her life and opened up her mind to things she hadn't considered before. And many things she had no way to understand. Emotions that were alien to her now arose, most often she didn't know how to act on them.

But in this case, she knew the course of action she had to take.

She would tell Pilot Soryu to stop making these advances on Shinji. Her observation had brought her to the conclusion that he didn't welcome Asuka's attention, but why he didn't simply tell her so, that was a mystery to Rei. But after she would clear this up tomorrow, it would stop, she thought that it was the logical thing to think.

Little did she know that logic didn't apply to this situation, and that actually she had felt threatened by Asuka's over-agressive tries to woo Shinji. Despite her thinking that she acted rational, in reality emotion was guiding her decision.

With her decision, the stage was set.

* * *

_...next day, at school..._

It was still roughly twenty minutes before the school day would start. The pupils were enjoying the good weather outside in the yard, before they would be forced inside for another day of learning. For now, everyone was left to his or her own devices.

Shinji knew one definite advantage of his two friends. While he was talking with Kensuke and Toji, Asuka wouldn't even come close to him. Her sheer disgust for the two kept her away. She was somewhere in the yard.

"Well, have you survived mall-hell?" Toji asked Shinji, innocent.

"Don't act so innocent. I know exactly why you didn't want to come. But actually it wasn't so bad. I was not abducted to a walk through the entire mall, and she left with Asuka shortly later. I must thank her later, I wouldn't have survived a mall stroll with Asuka. That girl is a shopping shark..." Shinji remembered all the boxes when Asuka had moved in.

"You are truely a lucky dog, Shinji. First you move in with Misato, then you thaw up ice-Rei and now you have the red devil after you, too. You must tell me your secret," Kensuke joked, laughing.

Shinji scrowled. "That's not funny. Asuka really goes on my nerves with her always trying to hang out with me."

Toji could only agree. "Yeah, strange chick. First she goes all nuclear on you, and now she tries to get you into bed, eh? How does Rei react?"

"She doesn't react. She simply ignores Asuka, everything said at her, goes over her head. Don't ask me how she does it. Any other girl would have reacted with anger by now. She must really have a thick hide," Shinji answered. He actually was impressed how much restraint she showed. On the other hand, she just could have had simply no idea what to do, ignorant to the whole thing. He knew that was possible.

"She must have nerves of steel," Toji whistled. "I would have ripped someone, who would trash-talk me like this, to pieces over a week ago. Guess she has a high bullshit tolerance."

"You would have beaten up the guy trash-talking you on the first day. Not everyone is gifted with tolerance," Kensuke added, only to recieve a dirty look from Toji.

"You know, I..." Shinji said, only to get interrupted.

"Hey guys...look..." Kensuke suddenly said, pointing towards a corner of the yard.

All three of them saw Rei walking towards Asuka. She looked impassive as always, but Shinji, who knew her better by now, saw determination in her red eyes. "I don't like that..."

Kensuke fished his camcorder out of his his school bag. He had the feeling that something would happen, and he really wanted to tape that. "I better create evidence..." he said, before he started to film the whole thing.

Everyone stepped aside, feeling as if something, a presence, demanded from them to be let through. They couldn't explain it, but they created a clear path for Rei, that directly led to Asuka, who was busy with talking to some girl. She stopped however, when she noticed Rei approaching.

Asuka looked at her, annoyed. "What do you want, Wondergirl?" she finally asked her after some moments of silence.

"Stop your advances on Shinji," she said, without anger and acid, just matter-of-fact. Rei thought that his would do it. However, she had no idea it would do the exact opposite.

Now Asuka looked angry at her, her eyes becoming dangerous slits. "And why should I do so? Certainly not just because you say so," Asuka growled. _Who does she think she is? Waltzing in and demanding things from me!_

"Your advances only cause Shinji distress. He does not welcome your attention," she stated further, spelling it out. Again, she thought that telling the naked facts would be enough, althrough by now Asuka's reaction made her feel strangely... annoyed.

**"YOU LIE!"** Asuka screamed. "I am far better suited for him, than you. And he knows this!"

"Then why does he seek my presence, instead of yours?" Rei asked her. She hadn't thought that it would go like this, and became quite irrtated.

**-SLAP!-**

She hadn't seen it coming. As fast as lightning, Asuka's hand had hit her hard on her left cheek, nearly making her stumble. It hurt and the skin felt as if it was burning. Everyone looked shocked. Asuka was now fuming. "Shut up! Just shut up!" she screamed. "You are an emotionless, frigid, sterile iceblock! You are nothing, just the Commander's pet! I'm far more of a girl than you will ever be. He will be better off with me!"

Rei had no idea what happened, but something snapped in her right at that moment. It was as if something deep within her took over, totally shutting off her rational mind.

"Oh shit!" Toji shouted, and Kensuke almost lost his camcorder when they saw what happened following Asuka's tirade. They had never thought Rei capable of something like this.

"Guys, we must do something!" Shinji finally shouted, after getting over the shock of what he was seeing there. "Quick!"

Toji might not have much love for Asuka, but he couldn't let these two girls hurt each other more than they already had. Together with Shinji he ran through the crowd to pull these two apart and prevent the worst.

* * *

_...half an hour later..._

"Be glad that I've decided to let this stay low, or the Commander would have heared of this. And both of you can guess how he would have reacted," Misato told them, disappointed. "I'm very disappointed in you two. Beating up each other..."

Asuka and Rei were sitting in chairs in the principal's office. Both looked worse for the wear after their little confrontation. Thankfully Toji and Shinji had been able to pull them apart, before worse things had happened apart from several bruises. Since the school had no way to directly contact Rei's guardian, the Commander hadn't even bothered to give them a number, they had contacted Misato at work. And now here they were, getting both chewed out by her, while Shinji sat in the background, still disbelieving what had happened.

Misato felt that if this was how it would be to have kids, then she would never have any, as this really was costing her nerves. "And now tell me what caused this..."

"I told Pilot Soryu to stop her advanced on Shinji, as it only distressed him. She didn't believe me and then physically attacked me," Rei said. She was unused to be in this position, and still hadn't really processed what had happened. "And then I...I..."

"Basically you snapped, emotions which you barely understand took over, hit back, and the whole thing escalated into a catfight," Misato concluded. Rei could only nod. She then looked to Asuka. "And what do you have to say?"

"She demanded from me that I stopped trying to show Shinji how much better I am for him, than she will ever be. Seeing him waste his time with her is wrong, he must see that."

_Oh dear...NOW I understand..._ "Asuka, do you say that you are jealous?" seeing Asuka nod, Misato now knew what had happened, as she had been young, too. "Asuka, Shinji isn't a prize that can be won, nor are you and Rei in any sort of competition. She has been his friend long before you came here, and it turned into more. What you have, is simply a childish crush, and nothing more."

"What?" Asuka asked, eyes wide in disbelival, now that it had been spelled out. "No, he is the first boy with spine I've met. He must be the right one, he only must see it."

Misato knew, Asuka didn't believe her, but she now wouldn't let this go on any longer. "Asuka, I've been once a teenager, too. You simply have a crush that has clouded your judgement. You only imagine things."

"I still don't believe you!" It was the voice of desperation, as all what before had been overlaid by emotion now came back to her.

Misato sighed. "Shinji, please tell her the truth. And don't you dare to try to weasel out of this."

Shinji swallowed hard. Now that he did know what was going on, he felt that his next words would quite hurt Asuka. "Asuka, my heart is with Rei. I do not have any emotions for you that go further than friendship. Sorry, but you only chased after a dream..."

After hearing this, Asuka looked as if she had just been notified of the death of her whole family. Then her face went aflame when she remembered her actions of the last two weeks. It was almost as if she had been in a bad movie, with her as the main actress. She had thought herself above such childish things, and now to hear this...

Misato had mercy with her, seeing that she now was already enduring a worse punishment than anything she could give her, and let her leave the office. She then turned her attention to Rei.

"I never imagined that you would get into a fight, and you have the bruises to prove it, they show especially much on your pale skin," Misato said, again disappointed. "I have to ask Dr. Akagi to treat them, so that they won't be as noticable as they are now... Do you have anything to say to your defense?"

"I have nothing to say to my defense. I simply do not know what came over me," Rei answered.

Misato took a deep breath. "Rei, as your superior I can only disapprove of what happened. However, I do have to admit that I would have reacted exactly the same after getting slapped into the face. And since I do know that you are not the kind of girl to get into trouble, I will not set a punishment, nor will I report it to the Commander. But dare you if this happens again."

Misato could have sworn that for some seconds, there was relief on Rei's face.

"Misato, can I speak with Rei for a moment?" Shinji asked.

Misato first looked to Rei, then to Shinji. "Good, I will give you some minutes. But after this, pack your stuff. Rei needs for these bruises to get treated, they really stick out with her pale skin. And you will come with us, since I think your school day is effectively over with this. I will later write an excuse to the school." That said, Misato left them alone.

"Shinji...?" Rei asked.

"Rei...please do not assume again that I would leave you for someone else just because of someone else's crush on me. You have my heart. I never ever felt anything more for Asuka than friendship. I know you feared that she would snatch me away, but this will never happen," Shinji reassured her.

"I..." Rei didn't know what she actually should say.

"No, you don't need to say anything..." That said, Shinji gave her a nice and sensual kiss. Surprised for a second, Rei answered the same way. Both of them enjoyed it much and they went further with it, until it was an full, open-mouthed kiss with tongue and all. Rei really enjoyed this one. It felt far more personal than any of the others they had before.

After two minutes, their mouths finally parted. "This was very...enjoyable," Rei said, a little stunned how wonderful it had been.

Shinji smiled. He didn't need to say anymore.

* * *

_...the next day, NERV..._

"Hmm...Rei's synch-ratio has risen over the magic line of 60," Dr. Akagi commented, while reading the results of the synch-test. "That's the first time in her entire life that she has passed the line of 60 percent. Quite impressive."

Misato wasn't surprised. She had seen Shinji reassure Rei, including their little token of affection trough the slightly open door in school. (she simply couldn't help it but being curious) They both looked so cute and innocent when doing this. But it seemed to have given Rei some confidence, and it showed in her passing this barrier. Shinji really was good for the blue-haired girl.

"What about the other two?" Misato asked her, curious.

Dr. Akagi looked on the screen. "Shinji shows only marginal improvements. He is now at 59.8 percent, but seeing how he steadily improves, I think he will surpass Rei very soon. Asuka...that's difficult to say. Her ratio is fluctuating between 72 and 74, something must be on her mind if she can't manage to hold a stable ratio right now."

_No wonder...Asuka had realised how stupid she had acted by letting her jealously getting the better of her. Well, her now again mostly ignoring Shinji with only the occasional arrogance burst strewn in sounds better than what happened in the last two weeks, _Misato thought.

Asuka had been quite put down by the realisation how foolish she had acted, but then tried to forget the whole ebmarrassing episode. To imagine that she had followed a stupid crush, and imagined herself in a competition with the First Child! She threatened everyone with dire consequences, should they ever again even mention it to her. It meant that Asuka was back to her old self, a big relief for everyone, as like this, she at least was more predictable.

Only Asuka herself would need some time to get over it.

"Ritsu, shouldn't we also see how their ratios will be in their real Units? I think you told me that there are differences," Misato remembered.

"Right, haven't thought about it." Ritsuko knew there were differences, especially with Rei and Unit-00, which made these synch-tests in the dry only partially representative of the pilot's achivements in control. She turned on the comm-system. "Children, we will get you out. We will also test you in your real EVAs right now, so don't hit the showers yet."

Ten minutes later, each of them were in their respictive EVA.

Asuka tried to push away the embarrassment of yesterday, concentrating. Rei was also concentrating, she felt as if it went easier for her than normal. Shinji felt surprisingly good in his entry plug. He felt as if a hidden voice told him what a fine young man he had become. It felt warm and caring, so he relaxed.

"Well, this is a surprise. Asuka has no change at all, but Rei's synch-ratio has shot up to 58. If you remember that she still had the shock of the failed activation test in her bones, and that her last test in her real unit before the seventh Angel showed only 49 percent, this is quite a recovery," Dr. Akagi said in awe when looking at the numbers.

"And Shinji?" Misato asked, curious.

"That's the next surprise. His ratio is higher than in the normal test, around 64 to be precise. It is as if sitting in the real EVA gives him a boost." Ritsuko of course had her suspiction who really was behind it, something she had to report to the Commander, he would be very interested in it.

Of course she knew the secrets of Unit-01 and Unit-02. Unit-03 was the first one, where this special problem had been solved, eliminating this special need for the EVA to actually work. But what about Unit-00? She knew it had to be the same as with the latter two Units, but she hadn't found any recording of how exactly this had been accomplished.

It only made her mistrust grow, that someone wanted to hide something. And she would get behind it, sooner or later.

"Am I interrupting something?"

Misato rolled her eyes. "Kaji, what are you doing here?" she asked, slightly annoyed.

"I had nothing to do, so I thought I would see how our pilots fare," he answered, looking to the screen. Then he whistled. "Wow, our tiger really seems to show his claws now. The kid really has talent."

Misato looked on her wristwatch. "Excuse me, but I still have work to do." She then left the room.

Mr. Kaji looked after her. "It could have been worse. She didn't curse and didn't throw me an angry look. This can only mean that I must be on the right way..."

Ritsuko took off her glasses. "Ryoji, maybe you are on the right way, but you still have way to go. And don't even try to make her jealous by hanging around with me. In my experience, this won't work at all. Jealously is a bad thing."

"Ah yes, I heared of that through my sources, how do you know of it?"

"Misato told me, and I don't think the Commander wants to be bothered with it, now that it is out of the world. Oh, I heared that Asuka had a crush on you, too?" she said the last with a smirk, enjoying how Kaji seemed to become uncomfortable with the topic.

"Yeah...it was ridiculous. Thank all Kami that she dropped that when one girl had asked if I'm her father. But her still holding me as the best example of manliness is better than her childish crush on me." Kaji really was glad that Asuka had stopped her crush on him on her own. It was sad that this time, she had fallen on her face.

* * *

_...the following day, in class..._

It was a minute before the beginning of the next period, when Hikari asked for attention, as she had to relay something to the class. Everyone listened what she had to say.

"Do not forget, that the class trip to Okinawa will be next week. For everyone who has entered the class since the decision was made: At the beginning of the school year, the decision for this trip was made. Please transfer the money in time for it, all right? For questions, come to me," Hikari announced to the class.

"A class trip! Great! I always wanted to go diving in the ocean!" Asuka realised, happy. Pushing the last days to the back of her mind really had helped her mood. "I can't wait for the trip! I must ask her how much it will cost..."

Shinji shook his head. he had a good guess what would happen. "Rei, has she read her work contract?"

"I do not think so."

Shinji leaned back. He had read the copy of his contract just because he was curious. And it stated clearly that NERV had to appove to this, and only if the security of Tokyo-3 wouldn't be compomised. Since they were the only three pilots available, he had a good guess what the outcome would be. He wouldn't tell her, as he had no desire to put his ass into the line of fire.

He wanted to say more, but right at this moment, the teacher came in. "Stand! Bow! Sit!" Hikari barked, now fully in her Class-Rep. mode. The class did as ordered, and the period began, in this case math.

* * *

_...early evening, in a cinema..._

The cinema was full, as 'Episode IX' had been long awaited by all its fans. Thankfully his NERV-card had enabled Shinji to buy two seats in the middle of the backrow, meaning in the best place. They had both found their seats and the movie was to begin any moment.

"What is this?" Rei asked, looking at the paper bag full with strange, white flocks, which Shinji had brought and put on the narrow board that was fastend to the next seat row.

"This is popcorn. It's made from corn. It is coated with sugar. Just try it," Shinji offered.

Rei took some of it. She noticed that it tasted unusual, nothing like anything she had tried before. "It tastes...interesting." To underline that she liked it, she took some more. "Thank you for explaining the background."

Shinji knew what she meant. There had been eight movies before this one, and of course Rei knew none of them. So he had taken it upon himself to rent all eight of them to give her the entire story up to now. She had admitted that it was enjoyable and interesting, and that she wanted to see the conclusion of the last trilogy.

"No problem, otherwise you wouldn't understand most of it," Shinji said.

Right then, the light went out, the fanfare started, and the 20th Century Fox-logo appeared on the screen, followed by the well-known _'Galaxy far, far away...'. _Shinji put his left arm over Rei's shoulders. She didn't mind and put her right hand on his leg, while the Star Wars-logo appeared on the screen, together with the famous title music.

_**to be continued...**_

(1) Episode IX... It seems that George Lucas didn't stop filming in the EVA-universe after creating the prequel trilogy (of course with different release dates), so he made the sequel trilogy.

_**Next Episode:**_

_**"Sandalphon"**_


	12. Sandalphon

I will say these things in advance: I have absolutely no rights at NGE, but you should have already known that.

The story itself is basically a re-telling of the original storyline, but twisted into my way. While at the beginning there seem to be only few divigances, it will become more with each episode. The people, their motivations and the backgrounds are while holding true to the basic layout, changed at my imagination in many details, so canon-purists now are allowed to flame me.

NOTE: I hate both, the ending of the TV series, and how End of Evangelion turned out. So don't expect any of those outcomes.

This will be Shinji/Rei. Sorry if this chapter orients itself closer to the original episode, but the story structue didn't allow me too many changes (althrough I think you will have several surprises). Also I always found the fight with Sandalphon one of the lamest in the series, since Asuka was basically helpless.

For all the work I put into this, I would like to get reviews. I will always try to respond to every review I get.

* * *

**Cahpter 11: Sandalphon**

"Oh, I really can't wait to test my scuba gear in Okinawa!" Asuka beamed, while she and Hikari were shopping for bathing suits.

In the past she had always tried to be in the public with Mr. Kaji, as she had a childish crush on him. She had realised how stupid it was, even if it was through a rude wake-up, and and now only saw him as a good example for manliness. In her eyes, boys were too immature, she totally burried the embarrassing episode with Shinji, and she needed a man, best at 20 years, not older, with a sex-appeal like James Bond. This would be the only one fitting for her.

"Have you already asked Misato for the money transfer? You know, the money has to come from the ones responsible for us," Hikari reminded her, while browsing through the various designs.

"I think it will be only a formality... Hey what do you think of this one?" She held up a bikini.

Hikari gasped. "Asuka! That thing is so unmodest, every boy at the beach would ogle you, drooling all the time!"

Asuka laughed, while deciding that this one was a keeper. "That's the plan. I want to show everyone what fools they are. Can't help to show the other girls this fact. And I have nothing to hide." Silently she wondered how the hell bathing suits could be modest at all, since they were intended to show off.

Hikari shook her head, while selecting a far more modest one-piece bathing suit. For her it was a little astounding how fast Asuka had recovered her good mood after the incident earlier that week. During school she now pretty much ignored both, Shinji and Rei, which everyone agreed, was pretty much for the best as it saved everyone lots of nerves.

"Hikari, what does this mean?" Asuka suddenly asked, pointing towards a sign at the next clothing rack.

This made Hikari wonder. Didn't Asuka use the same books as the rest of the class? "I thought you can read Kanji?"

"Yes...but...all right, no one is perfect. I do have problems a number of times. It's hard for me to learn a totally new script system," Asuka reluctantly admitted.

Hikari had to admit, that Kanji script wasn't a world language, and thus she couldn't hold it against her. But that also explained Asuka's fluctuating test results, if she had problem with the script. Maybe she could convince her to enter one of the special classes?

Asuka's mood was really sunshine that afternoon.

She had no idea that this would change really fast at evening.

**"WAS?" **This shout from the living room was enough to wake up Pen-Pen, who had slept in the bath tub. **"Das ist wohl nicht wahr. Du sagst ich kann nicht mit?" (This can't be true! You say I can't go?)**

"Exactly, you heared right," Misato said calmly, having expected this outburst. Thankfully she had gotten reinforcements before confronting Asuka with the facts. "You have to stay in Tokyo-3. Sorry Asuka, but no trip for any of you."

Asuka wasn't in a good mood. She had been so ethusiastic about going on that class trip, and now that. "Shinji, make her see reason! Prove to me that you are a man!" she almost commanded him, unnerved by how clam he was, sharing some apple juice with Rei.

"I'm not yet a man. And have you even read the contract you signed when coming here? Sorry Asuka, but you sold out yourself to the terms when you did, and they state we have to stay here," Shinji explained calmly.

"And you and Wondergirl simply accept this unfair contract clause?" she growled, irritated by how she didn't seem to have any allies in this battle.

"The terms make clear that this is in case of an Angel attack," Rei stated, before returning her attention to her glass of juice. She enjoyed the taste of the juice and had to get some for herself next day.

"I'm not putting myself above others. So I actually see nothing wrong with it, and I can catch up with my free time, as soon as the Angels are all destroyed," Shinji explained to Asuka. "So don't expect me to burst into tears." To be honest, Shinji was a little disappointed, but not nearly enough to complain.

"You are the most dickless boy I've ever seen," Asuka said in resignation.

"I do not understand. According to my observation, Shinji's primary male characteristica are well developed for his age," Rei asked, confused by this statement. Asuka pretended she hadn't heared this, while Shinji blushed a little, before correcting Rei on the meaning of these words.

"I know it is unfair to you, don't understand me wrong. I really wish you could go after all the stress of the last weeks. But the only one who can now allow that and override that clause is Commander Ikari. And he wants you to stay here," Misato stated, destroying even the slightest hope.

Asuka had met the man only one time, and that only briefly. But the sheer aura of superiority, which made her own look like a pale shadow, had intimidated even her and made her come to the decision to stay far away from him. But for now, Asuka felt like everything had turned against her. "That stinks down from the head."

"See it positive, at least it gives you a chance to polish up your grades." Misato held up a couple of disks. "Or did you think I wouldn't get your school reports? I do care for your education, so all your grades are transfered to me, and I'm not really thrilled. Shinji isn't at the top, but he manages fine enough, despite him having to skip school because of NERV duty. Althrough he could do more about his grade in physics..."

"Hey, I had to do the synch-training in that week, so don't blame me!" Shinji defended himself. A good defense, with the only fault that he always had sucked at physics in school.

"I do not think so..." It seemed Misato knew this, too, much to his dismay. She then looked to Asuka. "You on the other hand show grades that are far below what I expected from you, after I read about your school results in Germany. It is disappointing."

Admitting to Hikari that she couldn't read a good number of Kanji symbols was one thing. Admitting it to Misato, that was something different. So she tried to evade the matter. "Grades say nothing. This grading system you use is stupid anyway."

"Oh, for me they do say a lot. I think you will get used to our system soon enough. When in Rome, do as the Romans do. I'm sure you will be a lot better, soon enough," Misato explained to her.

"It's still unfair!" That said, Asuka retreated to her room, sulking.

"I really wish she could go on the trip. Sometimes I hate my job," Misato sighed. After some seconds she realised that she had still no idea why Rei had been there when she had called Asuka to explain the lay of the land to her. "Rei, why exactly are you here?" Not that she had anything against her presence, she was really nice.

"I was running out of something and asked Shinji for this article until I can re-stock," Rei stated short and to the point.

"Yes, I still need to give it to her." Shinji saw no need to mention that it was such a banal reason why Rei was there. She was simply running out of shampoo and had forgotten to buy new one in time. Nothing even remotely dramatic.

* * *

_...five days later..._

Watching the jet take off from the airport and fly south from the balcony of Misato's apartment while leaning on the railing, Asuka was pissed at the comments she had heared from the stupid duo. While Hikari had the decency to feel sorry for her, Toji and Kensuke had actually made fun of her. Ok, they also had hinted that they found it hilarious that Shinji also was unable to come with them, but she had recieved the full gloating.

And that these two had mocked her misfortune didn't sit well with Asuka for the slightest.

_Just wait you two dumb-asses. I will find a way to get you two for this.. _Asuka was disappointed that she now would spend several days mainly learning the Kanji script. Otherwise she would never get better. She had gotten through school already thanks to her high IQ, so why did she have to be in it again?

_Ich habe Abitur! Warum muß ich wieder zur Schule? (I have a college degree! So why do I have to go through school again?)_

Turning away, she prepared herself for a long, boring day.

* * *

_...next day, NERV recreation facility, geofront, 08:55 AM..._

_Well, it isn't Okinawa, but at least we are allowed to relax, instead of being on duty 24/7, _Shinji thought, while leaning back in the sun chair. Sure, there wasn't real sun, but he hadn't known before that NERV had a recreation facility, complete with sports hall, weight lifting room and a pool. And right now he was relaxing at the pool area, wearing only his swim trunks, trying to forget the physics school work on his laptop on the table beside him.

He watched Rei swimming some rounds. He wondered if her swimming suit was NERV issue, since it was the same white as her plug suit. Despite looking a little frail, she seemed to have quite some strength, considering how fast she swam. Indeed she was unusually strong for a girl of her build.

"Hey, Shinji."

Hearing Asuka's voice, Shinji wasn't about to let his eyes go from watching Rei swimming. "Hmm?"

"What is this stuff on your table?"

"My physics stuff. I will do it later..." Looking to Asuka he saw her checking the questions on his laptop. Shinji stopped when he saw that she was wearing a bikini many other girls would not dare to wear. Of course he had seen her in nothing at all as well, but still... _Remember you are wearing swim trunks... _trying to ignore the pretty much revealing bikini, Shinji tried to concentrate on her face.

"I've delt with much tougher stuff at college..." she said in a voice as if she was lecturing a child.

"You went to college?" It was a surprise for him. Was she more intelligent than she showed? Then why were her grades so bad? "Then why did Misato chew you out for bad grades?"

"I actually graduated! And Misato's opinion doesn't really interest me, but I want to prove to her that I'm always the best." She looked up from the screen. "What, are you looking at me? Never before seen someone looking as good as me like this?"

Shinji knew, if he said yes, and therefore mentioned the episode when she had first moved in, he wouldn't hear the end of it. And admitting that he had seen Rei also in nothing, and she certainly looked as good as Asuka, was also no option. "No, I didn't."

"Sure you didn't... I was denied scuba divining in Okinawa, so I will do it here. I look good, don't I?" Asuka did a pose to show off how well developed she already was.

Shinji knew, saying no would invite unwanted trouble. He also saw Rei climbing out of the pool, looking to them. He could have sworn her eyes hardened a bit in annoyance. _I better try to diffuse this fast._ "Yes, yes. You do."

"Good, because otherwise I would have been quite pissed off!" That said, Asuka walked away to ready her diving equipment.

Trying to ignore her, Shinji looked to where Rei was, seeing her drying herself with a towel. It was strangely fascinating watching her drying her hair, while her bathing suit left only very little to the imagination. It was almost painted on her. Right then Rei bend over to dry her legs. Shinji swallowed hard, in that position the suit covered even less, and he got quite a view.

_She really has a nice butt...I...oh shit, not yet! _Gabbing his laptop, he used it to cover this part of himself.

_How embarrassing, I got this from looking at Rei's butt. _Shinji couldn't help it, he was, like every teenager, under the curse of hormones. And these told him that Rei was a real looker. But he wouldn't even think about acting on it, Rei was simply not ready for something like that.

He didn't know that Rei had noticed him looking at her backside. She wondered why he did that, and then decided to ask him. So she walked over to him. "Shinji, why did you watch that part of my body?" she asked direct to the point.

Shinji knew, it was an innocent question, and with Rei, the naked truth was best. "I..ahm..I liked the view. I...well..admired how well built you are."

"It was arousing for you to watch my backside?" Rei asked further.

_Does she always have to be that direct? _"Uhhm...yes. Emh, are you angry at me for looking?"

Rei didn't know why, but the idea that she was causing a sexual reaction in Shinji, just by showing her barely covered butt, felt thrilling. It was paradox, while she had become very aware of her modesty and tried to protect it now, it actually felt good to let Shinji ogle her.

"I am not offended. In fact, I won't be offended if you continue to do so." Then Rei left him again, to gather her stuff before she would use the chair beside him.

Shinji tried to process what she had just told him. _She has allowed my to ogle her? Sometimes I really don't understand girls, or at least this one..._

"Hey, Shinji!" Hearing Asuka, he looked to the pool, seeing her having put on her scuba gear and sitting at the edge. "Here comes the backroll entrance!"

Shinji watched her doing as said, vanishing under the surface. _I guess she still wants attention, even if she has given up on me alltogether._

* * *

_...at Mt. Asamayama..._

Misato was looking at the progress of the probe into the volcano. Headquarter had been quite alarmed by the report of the scentific team at the Mt. Asamayama, that there was some kind of foreign object in the lava stream. The pictures had been vague, but good enough to warrant sending her and Lt. Hyuga to the Mt. Asamayama to see if there was a Angel hiding in that volcano.

"We can't go deeper without damage!" one of the scientists warned her, seeing as the danger indicators of the probe were all red. He had no wish to ruin their expensive equipment just for a hunch.

"Oh yes, we can, 500 feet deeper!" she commanded.

The probe was lowered even deeper, the pressure starting to damage it. "Captain, the probe is starting to collapse, we will lose it soon!" the scientist warned again. These things were expensive as hell, and it would be a real loss for them if it was destroyed by the pressure.

Misato knew that he was right, but she couldn't allow an possible Angel to escape. "We will pay if that happens, so go deeper!"

"There! I analyse it now!" Lt. Hyuga reported.

Seconds later they heared a shrill warning sound, then all screens went blank. "Well, you did it, the probe has imploded und all the pressure. We will send the bill to NERV."

Misato ignored him, as she waited for Makoto's report. Finally he looked up. "A blue pattern. This is an Angel," he told her, while looking at the picture of the Angel. Its form was disturbing him a little.

"This operation is from now on led by NERV!" she announced to all of the scientists. "No calls to the outside, and all data of the last hours is top secret from now on!" After that announcement, she quickly told Hyuga. "Contact HQ! We need clearance for an A-17!"

While everything started to get hectic at the surface, someone deep below them felt disturbed in his rest. _**Huh...what? Where the hell am I?... Ah yes, I totally screwed up my travel. My bad.**_

Sandalphon was known by his brothers and sisters as the one of them who had the worst luck, and it seemed there was really something at that. He had totally screwed up his travel to this world in order to free his father, resulting in him being thrown back to his embryonal stage. Quite humiliating.

Sensing around, he noticed the debris of a foreign object. Obviously from the Lilim. _**Looks like I will get company very soon. Damn, and I still look like laughing stock! **_Testing his underdeveloped body, Sandalphon guessed that he would need two hours at best to return to full growth. Then he would melt a tunnel to the underground place where they held his father prisoner.

_**And I wondered why they call me a klutz...**_Resignating to the fact that he propably was, otherwise his little accident wouldn't have happened, he put all his powers in amassing enough energy to start his growth-spurt.

While he probably was a klutz, he wasn't stupid. And he would properly greet any unwelcome visitors.

* * *

_...secret conference room..._

"An A-17?"

"You want to risk a preventive strike, Ikari?"

The members of SEELE had been really surprised when Gendo had told them that this time they would do the first strike. They hadn't seen this coming, the scrolls had been very vague on this Angel, so they reacted quite strong on the plan.

"Exactly," Gendo answered, not seeing any need to say any more. However, the members of SEELE weren't so easily put off.

"Far too dangerous! You forgot what happened 15 years ago?"

"The conditions are different this time. And it is an one-time opportunity to use the initiative, instead of only reacting to the Angel's attacks," Gendo explained further. For him, it was as if he was lecturing some school kid, really annoying.

Lorenz Keel had listend to all of it, and now decided to cut in. "The risk is enormous. But you of all people know how fortunate for us it would be to have a speciem at our disposal, a living Angel. I will give green light at your attempt, but try to capture it for us! I won't tolerate failure."

That said, the holograms of the members of SEELE vanished, leaving Gendo and Fuyutsuki alone in the room. The Vice-Commander could only shake his head over the words of Keel. "He won't tolerate it? He knows very well, that should we fail at either gathering or destroying it, the world is doomed."

"Of course he knows. He only wanted to show off his authority, so that he felt asure of himself," Gendo calmly replied. "We will start the operation at once, we have little time to lose."

_I hope we are doing the right thing, _Fuyutsuki hoped. _Destroying it would be much easier and less of a gamble. Is it really worth this risk?_

He hoped everything would go right, or otherwise...

Several minutes later, the pilots were gathered with Dr. Akagi and Lt. Ibuki explaining the mission to them in the briefing room.

"That's an Angel? Yuck...it looks like a human embryo," Shinji exclaimed, when seeing the picture of the proto-Angel on the big floor screen. All of them had been surprised when the alert had went off, calling them to report at once. Asuka looked as if she couldn't wait to get into the fray.

"A little crude, but fitting. The Angel isn't developed yet and is in a sort of cocoon. One EVA will dive by a special cable down into the volcano. It is our primary objective to capture it alive, meaning you can't damage the cocoon, or we are in trouble," Ritsuko explained further.

"What if it did get damaged?" Asuka asked.

"Then we must destroy it at once. We can't take any risks. Got that?" Seeing all of the pilots nod, Ritsuko went on. "Good, the pilot for this operation..."

"I! I! Please let me do it, I love diving!" Asuka interrupted, hoping for her chance to redeem her damaged reputation.

"Nice try, but I was about to say your name anyway. Unit-02 is right now the only one that can use the class-D special equipment for the extreme conditions within the volcano," Dr. Akagi said, not angered by Asuka's enthusiasm.

"And what is our role?" Rei asked.

"Unit-01 will observe the operation from the top of the crater. Unit-00 will remain here, by orders of Commander Ikari," Lt. Ibuki explained.

"Ohh, poor First Child, has to stay here, missing all the exciting stuff!" Asuka mocked.

Knowing that Rei would ignore these taunts as usual, Shinji felt that he should draw a line. "Asuka, stop picking on Rei and just shut up." He recieved a frown from Asuka, but she didn't give him an answer.

Ritsuko had watched this, but now felt that they had to go into action. "Your quarrels can wait until later. The operation starts now, so suit up."

Twenty minutes later, Asuka compressed the special suit skin-tight in the locker room beside the loading facility. "Dr. Akagi, is this really a special suit against heat? I doesn't look any different."

"Push the button on your right wrist..." Ritsuko said, checking some last things on her clipboard. She knew what would happen, but she wouldn't tell.

Asuka pushed the button, and...

**-ggllloorraaabbllglloobb-**

"AHHHH! Was zur Hölle?" Suddenly the suit inflated until Asuka looked like a balloon with legs, arms and a head. "In what the hell did you put me into!"

Ritsuko bit back a smile, the situation was too serious, and put on her professional face. "I think Unit-02 should be ready now, too."

"Oh noooo! What have you done to it?" Asuka whinen, when she saw the condition of Unit-02. It was now in a sort of hard-shelled space suit. "My poor EVA-02 will get claustrophobic in there!"

"This is class-D special equipment for battles in extreme conditions. Against heat, cold, radiation and pressure," Ritsuko explained, pretending to haven't heared Asuka's whining.

"No chance!" She might be eager to get her first solo kill, but she had her pride! "I won't present myself as the living balloon! Take Shinji, he would make a great buffoon!"

Shinji had to try hard not to laugh when seeing Asuka the great beach ball. But then he realised that somehow they had to get Asuka to do it, and he knew, how. "Rei, I think we need to convince her to do it," Shinji whispered to Rei.

Rei didn't acknowledge him, but it was clear that she had understood. "Dr. Akagi. If neccassary, I also can pilot Unit-02 to fulfill this mission."

It had the desired effect. The mere idea that someone else could pilot her EVA-02 made Asuka see red. "On nein! You won't get into the entry plug of my EVA-02!** Only over my dead body**! I will do it, and no one else!" That said, Asuka walked up the stairs to the entry plug. Dr. Akagi couldn't help but to mentally thank them. Otherwise it would have taken time to convince Asuka to do it, or force her with orders. She left to go into the transport plane.

"Well done. You saved us quite some trouble," Lt. Ibuki thanked them. Then she followed Ritsuko.

Shinji looked to Rei "Rei, we will see each other later, after this is over."

"Come back uninjured, Shinji," Rei replied, watching him walk to Unit-01.

* * *

_...meanwhile..._

"An A-17. All budget is temporary frozen, Why didn't you prevent it?" asked a woman while feeding some pidgeons.

"There was no reason. Orders from the top," Kaji replied.

"And if it goes wrong? Then we have doomsday."

"They might be arrogant, but they won't risk that," Kaji concluded. "Everything will go all right. Trust me. I have faith in the pilots."

* * *

_...at the Mt. Asamayama, almost one and half a hours later..._

"Hey Misato, if we get out of this alive, can we visit the hot-spring resort near by? We risk our asses, so I feel we should get something in return," Asuka asked Misato over the comm, while Unit-02 was readied at the crane that would lower it into the volcano, the electromagnetic cage in its hands.

"Asuka, can't we talk about this after the mission?" Misato didn't look as if she was in the mood for this. "This isn't the time for it."

"We haven't started yet, and I feel we should get compensation for the missed trip!" Asuka insisted.

Misato looked to Ritsuko. "Maybe we can tweak something? I think having them motivated will be good."

Ritsuko knew that they could manage something, but only with her help. When was the last time she had relaxed, away from Tokyo-3? She herself could also use a short break, after this Angel was either captured, or destroyed. "I'm sure we can manage something... Of course this then includes pilots and officers."

"Wow, hot springs," was the only thing Lt. Hyuga said, concentrating on his work. Lt. Ibuki said nothing, but she felt that a soak in natural hot spring water would be a great way to relax.

"All right, Asuka, you got a deal, but now back to business!" Misato told her.

"I almost forgot. Asuka, the class-D equipment also has emergency boosters, it's the button on your right. Should you need to get out of there fast, eject the cable and ignite them. But only use them if really neccassary," Ritsuko instructed her.

"Yes, yes. I got it." She didn't think that she would need that feature.

Shinji meanwhile noticed something while waiting beside the crane. Zooming in the picture, he saw what it was. "Why are there military jets circling over the volcano?" he asked.

"These are from the UN. There are here to minimise the damage in case of emergency," Lt. Ibuki told him.

"And how do they want to do that?" he asked further, having a sudden bad feeling with that.

"That means they will blow us up together with the Angel with a N2 bomb. So better be successful," Lt. Hyuga answered. "Thy are under direct control of Commander Ikari."

"Perfect... " Shinji sighed. _So here we are, with my old man having the finger on the red button to blow all of us sky high. I should have known that this day will end bad. _He really wished that this wouldn't have happened and he could enjoy the day with Rei.

"All right, Asuka!" Misato interrupted, "The laser opened the door. Are you ready?"

"You won't see me more ready than this!" Asuka said very confident.

"Good, then start the operation!"

At once the crane started to lower Unit-02 into the volcano. Asuka didn't want to show it, but she was quite nervous, so she tried to over-play it. "Hey Shinji! Here is the great lava-bomb!" she laughed, while Unit-02 dived into the molten rock. Then Unit-02 vanished into it.

Shinji hoped that she would come out of there alive.

Asuka didn't know that someone else felt her arrival.

_**Why now of all times? I'm almost done and I don't have use for visitors right now! **_Feeling through the molten rock to see the shape of the intruder, Sandolphon realised who it was. _**Ah, so one of these constructs of the Lilim wants to deal with me? I will take you apart, for your mere existence is a insult to us. **_Angry, Sandalphon pushed more power into his growth process. He was now close.

Unit-02 with Asuka meanwhile was lowered deeper and deeper into the lava. The class-D equipment was holding, but Asuka wasn't seeing much in the mess around herself. It actually was boring for her. With nothing to see and sweating like a pig, she hoped to get done as fast as possible. She sometimes heared the protective outer suit protesting against the pressure with a metallic groan, but she was sure, it would hold.

"All right, you are there. Do you see it?" Misato asked.

"No, nothing. It isn't here," Asuka answered, checking her scanners. "Where could it be?"

"The lava current must be stronger than in our calculations. This also means it will have drifter further away," Lt. Hyuga reported.

"Then make new calculations. Lower Unit-02 further!" Misato commanded. Everyone looked taken aback for a second. They knew that was dangerous, as it went over the limits of the equipment. They complied, but Ritsuko looked less than thrilled.

Unit-02 was lowered further, the other suit starting to protest more and more. Suddenly there was a loud snap. "Schei... I lost my prog knife," Asuka cursed. Not that she thought she would need it. But still...

"This is mad! We are far over the limit. This isn't a unmanned probe," Ritsuko protested to Misato.

"I know this! But I'm responsible, and we haven't the target yet. The operation will be continued!" Misato made it clear that she didn't want to hear anything more in that line. "Asuka, are you all right?"

"Of course I am. Don't worry about me." She sounded quite assure of herself.

Ritsuko felt that this would have happened sooner or later. _You really risk her life, just to statisfy your hatred against the Angels? Please don't make this your personal crusade against them._

"Unit-02 has reached the newly calculated position," Maya reported.

"Asuka, can you see something?" Misato asked her.

"I don't...wait!" She saw something slowly fading into her view, and it looked exactly like what they had searched for. "There it is!"

"All right, get ready! You have only one chance, otherwise the currents will drift it away from you!" Dr. Akagi cautioned her.

"Don't worry about that..." Asuka said, confident. Readying the cage, she did the manouver exactly as told, and the cage surrounded the cocoon, capturing it inside the force field. "I got it! Easy work. Now...please pull me back up, all right? I think I'm losing my body weight in sweat."

_**Hahahaha! This-this is a good joke! You really think this thing will hold me? **_Sandalphon laughed, while feeling the energy reaching the critical limit. _**You won't get out of here fast enough before I will rip you to pieces. **_

_**Ahhh...yeeees, I feel so much stronger...**_

Asuka felt the tension go, while she was pulled back up with her freight. "I can't wait to go to the hot springs. I hold you to your promise," she said, while pleased with herself. The operation was a success and she had managed to show off that she could really do it.

"Don't worry Asuka, I will hold my promise," Misato promised, all tension fallen from her.

Outside, Shinji felt relieved also. Everything had went over without any trouble. "Good that wasn't needed at all this time."

"That's really a relief that in the end everything went all right," Misato said. "Sometimes it's really hard to send people in such dangerous situations."

"At least you admit that. Others simply would write them off as cannon fodder," Ritsuko added.

**-EEEAAAHHHHHHT- -EEEAAAHHHHHHT- -EEEAAAHHHHHHT-**

"That thing is going bonkers!" Asuka screamed, all her gauges over the limit.

"Oh no! The Angel is hatching! Earlier than we thought!" Ritsuko realised when seeing the form of the Angel shift rapidly. "Will the cage hold it?"

"A full-grown Angel? No chance!" Makoto answered, now hectically using his controls in the sudden crisis at hand.

_**HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! **_Laughing, now that he was fully grown, formed like a huge, pre-historic calamari predator, Sandalphon simply ripped through the electric barrier, swimming with high speed into the surrounding lava. _**Now the game is on!**_

"Eject the cage!" Misato ordered, and the cage was blown away. "We have to destroy the Angel as fast as possible! Asuka, get ready!"

"I have no weapon!" Asuka was now quite afraid, despite her outer calm. "Oh shit, he is trying to ram me. I must get lighter!" Blowing off the extra weights, Unit-02 shot upwards, the Angel missing it by mere meters. "I've lost the Angel...damn is that thing fast! We need a plan! Fast!"

"Shinji! Throw your knife down to her!" Misato ordered.

"All right!" Shinji acknowledged. He was really scared that Asuka wouldn't get out of this alive. He might not be good terms with her, but the thought that she could die was horrifying for him. And he felt so helpless. "Here!" that siad, he threw his knife down to her.

"Come on, come on! The Angel is again attacking!" Asuka pleaded while waiting for the knife. "You stupid thing...come finally!" Grabbing the knife at the last second, she was surprised by the Angel not ramming her, but holding her like an octupus, and suddenly ripping open its teeth-filled mouth, biting on Unit-02. "It wants to eat me!"

Asuka tried to stab the Angel, but the prog knife only created sparks, nothing more, despite her having neutralised its AT-field through contact. "What the hell...? I can stab it as often as I want, it doesn't care!"

_**Nice try...but futile. Now I will have a snack. **_He bit hard into the outer shell of the head.

"That won't work! The Angel is perfectly adapted to its surroundings. If it can withstand the lava and the pressure, the knife won't bother it," Ritsuko realised when seeing the ineffectiveness of the weapon. "Its right now invulnerable."

**-crraaiiik-**

"The Angel starts to break down the outer shell."

"Why won't you die?" Asuka cursed, trying to kick the Angel. But its many arms held her in place, while it slowly started to chew through the helmet of the suit. An alert warned Asuka, that the cooland circuit was damaged.

Sandalphon squeezed a little more, starting to dent in the suit. _**Now say goodbye...**_

"Oh verdammt..." The way the Angel was chewing on the head, it would get through soon, and then she was done for, as she doubted she could finish it off. Suddenly she remembered a detail, her mind went to work, and she had an idea. "I have an idea!" Pulling a lever, she ejected the cable and started to sink down.

"Asuka, what the hell are you doing there?" Misato asked in horror. Asuka seemed to have just signed her own death warrant.

"Trust me..." _If the trajectory is right, my memory as well and what I think will happen... _Doing the calculations in her head, she came to one conclusion. _Let's fire off! _Igniting the boosters, Asuka suddenly shot up very fast, the Angel in tow, holding tight on it so that it won't escape.

_**Whooahh...what the? **_Sandalphon suddenly felt very cold, when they shot out of the lava.

Shooting out of the volcano, and high into the air, Asuka saw that she remembered right, there was a lake near by. "Taste that!" That said, she changed trajectory, so that they both would land in the lake. Half of the water was forced out when these two big objects fell into it, while steam rose up because of the immense heat they radiated.

_**Arrrgh! Uuuuhhah! I feel so fuuunnyy... AARRGH! **_Sandalphon was used to high pressure and temperatures. Normal pressure and temperatures were making up balloon up, letting go of Unit-02. _**Cuuurrrse youuuuu!**_

Right then, Asuka stabbed him again, and he blew apart like a balloon hit by a dart, leaving lots of bloody remains behind.

"Rest in pieces!" Asuka said triumphantly. "See Shinji? That's what I call a well done job!" Asuka said, having regained her cool, now that she had won.

"Wow." Asuka might have a personality that was a turn-away a lot of the time, but he was impressed. At least considering her piloting skill, he corrected himself. She had learned something.

* * *

_...only little later..._

"So the capture was a failure?"

"Yes, the Angel reacted unpredictable, and we were forced to destroy it," Gendo reported to SEELE. "We couldn't have forseen that it would hatch right at that moment."

"Indeed."

"The scrolls were very vague on it."

"The most important thing is, that our scenario wasn't affected by this incident," Keel decided. "It is simply a chance we were unable to use. The commitee sees no fault with your actions. So this session is closed."

The holograms vanished.

"It wouldn't have made a difference for us, if it were captured instead of destroyed," Fuyutsuki observed. "They had Adam long enough to get out everything they needed to know."

"Exactly. The whole point of this was only to see if the old men would jump to the bait. And they did," Gendo calmly replied. "This means that we now hold all the aces in the deck." He liked it when his plans worked.

* * *

_...at the hot springs, early evening..._

"What could this be? And why would Mr. Kaji send something here?" Shinji wondered, opening a freshly delivered package, only to be greeted by Pen-Pen jumping out of it. "Ah...I think I better show you the pool," he told the penguin, when he saw him looking around for water.

Shinji wondered how Kaji knew to get Pen-Pen sent to the resort, but then again he didn't want to know. Some things were better left unanswered. A little later, the warm water penguin was swimming around in the hot water pool, while the slowly setting sun cast everything into a beautiful orange light. (the beautiful colors are also a result of the dust thrown up in Second Impact) Shinji liked his current location, but was sad that Rei had no way to be there. He at least knew, who was responsible for it.

_You don't care for her, but still want to dictate to her how to live her life. Stupid old man!_

"What's the long face, I thought we are here to relax?"

Opening his eyes he looked over to Lt. Hyuga, who was enjoying himself, sitting at the other side of the pool. Misato had stayed true to her promise and had, with help from Dr. Akagi, managed that she, Ritsuko, Asuka, Lt. Ibuki, Lt. Hyuga and himself could stay at the hot-spring resort for the whole day.

"I'm only pissed at my old man that Rei isn't here, nothing serious." Leaning back, Shinji tried to relax. "At least we don't have to pay, everything is covered up."

"Yes, everything on NERV's bill," Makoto chuckled. "We shouldn't ask how they managed to ensure that. Althrough, Misato is really a woman who always gets what she wants."

"I wonder what they are doing over there?" Shinji wondered, looking at the wall that seperated the men's bath from the woman's.

"I don't think we want to know. Trust my word as a grown-up in this case. Let's enjoy ourselves after all the excitement today."

On the other side of the wall, Asuka had noticed quite an ugly scar on Misato's chest. "How did this happen?" she asked her.

"A result of Second Impact. I've learned to live with it, it's in the past. Don't worry about it," Misato answered, not wanting to tell Asuka how exactly she had recieved that injury. That was something she didn't want to share at all. Changing the topic, she leaned back. "I hope this compensates you for the missed class trip."

Asuka couldn't help but to smile. "Oh, you bet! This really is a great day. First kicking Angel butt at noon and now enjoying life until next morning."

"Better don't get too used to it. Althrough I have to admit, after all the work stress, this is really a relief," Ritsuko said. She then noticed Maya looking at her a little strange. "Is something wrong?"

"Eh..no. No, Sempai, I only thought I saw something." Looking away, Maya couldn't help but to scold herself. _You are a dirty girl! Don't let your imagination get the better of you. _The temptation had been too big, but she only shook her head at what phantasies she sometimes had.

Ritsuko could only wonder what her assistant was somethimes thinking. Picking up her drink, she shugged, "Whatever."

"Do these two always act like that?" Asuka quitely asked Misato.

"Actually, no. But I don't think there is anything behind it." Misato really had never seen Maya Ibuki act like this. Pushing it out of her mind, she enjoyed the sunset.

"I'm curious, Asuka. How did you make this plan to destroy the Angel?" Ritsuko asked Asuka.

"Actually...I improvised. When you said it was adapted, I gambled that it wouldn't like it outside the volcano. I remembered the booster, and thought, better try this than simply die eaten by it. And it worked," Asuka admitted.

"Sure it did. But we should forget business for now," Misato said, enjoying her special ice-coffee with cream.

All of them enjoyed the evening sun, feeling that they deseverd this after all the stress of the last weeks.

* * *

_...next week, class room 2-A..._

Sitting down in class, Shinji was surprised to see that everyone looked somewhat depressed, well with exception of Asuka and Rei, who hadn't been on the class trip together with him. Seeing Toji and Kensuke approach him, he asked the obvious. "What looks everyone as if they had caught chicken pox?"

"The class trip was a desaster!" Kensuke wailed. "The day after we arrived, a typhoon had decided to change direction and head towards Okinawa and then become comfortable over it. Four of the five days in shelters!"

"We shouldn't even have bothered with leaving Tokyo-3. We get enough shelter-time here already," Toji added, equally disappointed. "Life is soooooooooo unfair!"

Hearing a chuckle, both boys looked to the source, which was Asuka. "HA! That serves you two right for the stupidy you spouted when you left! We on the other hand had a wonderful day at a hot-spring resort in the mountains after I finished off an Angel in a volcano." It was clear that Asuka's ego had recieved a substantial boost by the fact, that she hadn't lost anything with the canceled class trip.

"Oh, you damn..." Toji started to rant, only to stop when Hikari entered the class room. She looked really pissed, fully in Class Rep.-mode. "I better warn you, Hikari is **really** disappointed by the trip. She had so long waited for it, and now that," he told Shinji and Rei, ignoring Asuka.

"She told the whole class not to expect any mercy for the rest of the week," Kensuke added. All of them knew that Hikari didn't really want to be mean to any of them, but after being frustrated so much, that was her way to let off steam and slowly vent the frustration.

"She told me that she didn't want to see anyone of us, with exception of me, during the breaks or after school during that time," Toji explained further. "That also includes you!" he added, looking to Asuka.

They all knew, after she had cooled off, Hikari would be back to her old self. But until then in school...

It looked like the rest of the week would be hell week.

Sitting down at his desk, Kensuke felt as if the sky was falling down on him. He then noticed something lying in the space under his desk, that was intended for books. _An envelope...? What could that be, and from who? _Looking inside he found a photo that nearly made him burst in laughter.

_I wonder how THIS did happen? Doubt she had gained and lost so much weight in that short time. _Surpressing a laugh, he returned the picture to its place. He had no idea who gave it to him, but it would get a premium spot in his collection. (1)

* * *

_...unknown place..._

"Sir, the team reports that within a time frame of six days, we can start the operation 'Fort Knox'," a woman reported to the man behind the desk. "They are now just busy with the last important details for the operation."

"Very good. They are to report to me, when they are ready," he ordered. Everything was going according to plan.

_**to be continued...**_

(1) No, I won't reveal how that photo managed to get into his desk. See it as a little mystery...

_**Next Episode:**_

_**"Matarael"**_

Additional author's notes:

-I had some difficulties with this episode, not only because I think it was the lamest Angel fight, but also because of the little room I had for changes. I will try to make up for it in the next one, where things will be somewhat different.


	13. Matarael

I will say these things in advance: I have absolutely no rights at NGE, but you should have already known that.

The story itself is basically a re-telling of the original storyline, but twisted into my way. While at the beginning there seem to be only few divigances, it will become more with each episode. The people, their motivations and the backgrounds are while holding true to the basic layout, changed at my imagination in many details, so canon-purists now are allowed to flame me.

NOTE: I hate both, the ending of the TV series, and how End of Evangelion turned out. So don't expect any of those outcomes.

This is Shinji/Rei. And enter further divigences from the canon. From now on, the pace of divigences will increase.

For all the work I put into this, I would like to get reviews. I will always try to respond to every review I get.

* * *

**Chapter 12: Matarael**

"We are ready to start the operation at exactly at 12:00," a man reported over a tele-link.

His superior was pleased. Their information was good, thanks to their spies, and they had prepared everything over the prior weeks. Now was the time to strike and retivre the object of their attention. "Good. Proceed as planned," his superior ordered.

* * *

_...Tokyo-3, 08:30 AM..._

It was already a hot day in Tokyo-3, despite it still being morning, and the weather forecast had promised it to be even hotter, humid day. Children were at school, even if it was only for a short day. Today was the last day before three weeks of autum leave. The name was the only thing that indicated the time of the year, Second Impact turning the whole year into eternal summer. Maya Ibuki and Shigeru Aoba had no mind for the school leave of children, while they walked through the streets to the subway station, so that they could go to work. Work had returned to normal after the Angel crisis almost two weeks ago. To their relief, the city hadn't been attacked this time, which meant much less work for them.

"Rei and Shinji look really cute together. Yestday I caught them kissing in the break room. Ahh...must be wonderful to be in love," Maya said, remembering how cute both Children had looked like while enjoying each other.

"At least it is a progress to before. She was such a zombie before, I didn't even think she had been alive. Good to see her act more normal," Shigeru replied, while they walked down the stairs to the subway station.

Maya knew, it was his way to speak like that. He didn't really believe in love in his nihilism. "Any idea when Makoto is coming today? Heared his duty plan got changed today."

Shigeru chickled. "That was Captain Katsuragi. She needed him to clean her uniforms. As if she couldn't do it herself, or ask Shinji." Arriving at the entrance barrier, he pulled his card through the reader, which gained him access. "By the way, I heared Dr. Akagi planned something for today."

"Ah yes, we want to improve Unit-00. That's why she has left for the geofront early," Maya answered, just when the the train arrived. Entering it, she saw that Vice-Commander Kozo Fuyutsuki was sitting there, reading the newspaper. "Oh, good morning Vice-Commander."

"Ah, Lt. Ibuki and Aoba, good morning," he greeted back, while the train started towards the geofront.

"Unusual to see you here at this time already, Sir," Shigeru asked.

Fuyutsuki snorted. "I have to attend to a meeting of the city council at 9:30, and thus have to start work early. I think it is a pure waste of time, but Commander Ikari seems to enjoy dropping all the boring and most useless tasks into my lap." The annoyance in his voice was real. Gendo didn't want to be loaded with 'trivial matters', meaning that he had to do a good part of his work load.

"Aren't there elections in two weeks?" Maya asked. She had noticed all the campaign posters and vehicles in the city, but hadn't herself a clue yet who she would vote for. It was quite difficult, all of them were so much alike in ther views that she had a hard time coming to a decision.

The Vice-Commander gave off a short laugh. "Question is, why? The council hasn't any say in anything. The MAGI tell them what to do... Also a kind of democracy that three independent computers have the say in this city." And he already saw it, a whole hour of listing to fake-debates, and in the end the already decided way would be accepted.

"The council only follows orders?" Shigeru asked, surprised. He hadn't known that. But on the other hand he had always suspected that the government was a sort of farce.

"It proved to be very efficient. Must be the fact that it is hard to bribe a computer," he answered with mild sarcasm. He himself would prefer corrupt politicians, but maybe it was only him having spent most of his life before Second Impact, and he was old-fashioned.

"Welcome in technologistan, we make people no longer needed," Shigeru mumbled while feeling that he should throw away his old school books about politics. The insight he had just got had proved to him that he shouldn't expect anything from the government anymore, if they replace themselves with computers.

There it was again, Shigeru Aoba's pessimism. "You always see the worst," Maya commented.

Shigeru rose an eyebrow. "Hey, when thirty-meters big monsters threaten to destroy the world, I can't be that wrong, right?"

"Why did I even try...?"

_I wish I could be this young again... Only in my age people learn what they have lost, _Fuyutsuki thought, reading through another article while the train entered the geofront.

* * *

_...11:50 AM, outside the school..._

Drinking a soda he had brought from the small store across the street, Shinji waited for Rei and Asuka. All three of them had tests due in a hour. Both girls had cleaning duty, meaning that he had to wait for them to finish.

_Three weeks of mostly freedom. Gods, I need it! _Shinji thought, remembering last week.

Not only had Hikari been pissed, but somehow a picture of Asuka in her special heat-shielding suit had appeared, of course in the inflated mode. The class had had a good laugh, but Asuka hadn't. After Kensuke had ended up with a pair of broken glasses and a demolished camcorder, she had located him and Rei as the next targets. She had demanded to know who of them had done that. But neither Rei or himself had been the culprits. So Asuka had to stick with burning the photo and she had been pissed for two days afterwards.

_I bet Kensuke has made a copy before he showed it around. He isn't so stupid to risk losing the only picture. But I can't get where he got that picture. _Deciding that it wouldn't do him any good to think too much about it, he threw the empty can into a trash basket.

Toji and Kensuke were already away. Kensuke had said that he would pack because he wanted to visit a army show on Hokkaido and wouldn't be back until next week. Toji had invited Hikari to travel to the beach with him for some days, together with his father and his sister. Thanks to the battles being away from the city in the last time, Mr. Suzuhara had free time on his hands. Kasumi was well enough for it, and she wanted some fresh air and sun, she said. Poor Toji had a hard time convincing Mrs. Horaki to allow Hikari coming with them, and Mr. Suzuhara. had to promise, that should these two try anything funny, he would interfere.

_Guess Toji wants to make up to her for the screwed up class trip..._

Wiping the sweat from his brow, Shinji again noticed how warm it was today, even more than usual in Tokyo-3. He was up and about to buy another soda, when he saw the two girls leaving school, followed by Hikari. Walking towards them, he caught the tail end of the conversation between Asuka and Hikari.

"...can't wait to see the beach. Toji had to promise my mom to be a real gentleman," Hikari said.

"I still don't know what you see in him. I still think, he is a jock," Asuka returned.

"You don't know him like I do. Well, see you in some days!" She then walked away in a different direction, leaving the three pilots alone.

Feeling the heat outside the building, Asuka groaned. "I wish I could visit the beach too. The temperatures and humidity in the air are a real killer..."

"I think a cold shower will be the best you will get, considering we will be soaked in LCL soon enough. Although that stuff tastes terrible, I have to admit it cools quite well." Looking to Rei, he saw that she was not only sweating as much as they did, but she also seemed uncomfortable in the blazing sun. "Rei, do you feel all right?"

"Do not worry, Shinji. I'm only uncomfortable. My lacking skin pigmentation reacts sensitive to a weather like this," Rei answered him. It always made her feel warm, when Shinji asked her if she felt all right. It was good that someone was concerned about her well-being. "Still thank you for your concern," she thanked him with a small smile.

"Always..." Holding her hand, the two of them started to walk to the next entrance to the geofront.

"Yuck, you two stop doing that mushy stuff in front of me," Asuka complained.

Rei looked a little perlexed, not understanding exactly what Asuka meant. "What does Pilot Soryu want to say with this?" she asked Shinji.

"Basically she wants to tell us to stop showing so openly that we care for each other," Shinji explained to her. Seeing Rei's unspoken question, he added, "Some people don't like open displays of affection in their presence and ask to stop it."

"I understand. But this demand of hers is unacceptable for me." She had put more emotion into her voice than she had intended to. But maybe it was because the humid heat was hard for her to endure? Feeling your undergarments and school uniform stick to your skin like flypaper because you were covered in a thick layer of sweat was a sensation she hadn't desired to experience. Even her hair was soaked with it by now, and hung down limply.

"Don't talk about me as if I'm not here!" Asuka protested, running up to their side.

"Sorry," Shinji apologised. Pulling at the collar of his shirt, he let out a breath. "This is worse than a sauna! Even being submerged in LCL sounds by now better than a minute longer in this heat..."

* * *

_...12:00..._

"All right,everyone get ready, the operation will commence now!" the team leader commanded. They had managed to get past all the security through a way they had found on their own, but the last obstacle had been the most difficult to get out of the way. "Group 2, lights out, then retreat!"

At once the second group set in motion the series of events they had prepared in advance for weeks. One flipped a switch, and almost all of the circuit breakers of all energy sources in the geofront blew out, the circuits themselves damaged by the sudden power disruption, resulting in all generators except one shutting off in return.

o

Walking to the next entrance to the geofront, Shinji noticed that the city seemed to get quieter all of a sudden. _Nah, must be my imagination, _he concluded, writing it off.

Arriving at the entrance, he pulled his card through the reader. Nothing happened, not even a error message. "Strange...Rei, try yours." Rei tried her card. Again the reader didn't react at all.

"What are you two waiting for? Can't you even pull a card through a reader?" Asuka complained, trying it herself, but with the same result. Trying it a second time, she cursed "Verdammt, this stupid thing is broken!"

Looking around, Shinji noticed that all the electronic signs were also off-line. _So it wasn't my imagination... _"Seems we have a power failure."

o

"Misato is really lazy. Why can't she clean her uniforms herself?" Makoto wondered aloud, while walking away from the cleaning shop. Granted, it was all automatical. But still... "And why do I always have to do it for her?" He felt like her personal slave.

Stopping at the traffic light, he tried to ignore the broadcast van advertising for one of the city council politicians. Looking up, he saw the red light getting black, but the green one didn't light up. In fact, he saw that the traffic light was entirely shut off.

Also the music he heared from a radio shop had suddenly stopped. "Huh, what's going on?"

o

**-clang-**

"What is that?" Misato wondered, when the elevator suddenly stopped. The light faded and the emergency lights went on. "Oh perfect, a power failure!" she groaned. It was bad enough to be caught in an elevator during a power failure. Worse for her was, who was with her in said elevator: Ryoji Kaji. He had just managed to slip into the elevator before the doors closed, and she had hoped that it would be over fast.

"Funny, I thought this couldn't happen here," said Kaji commented. "Maybe Ritsuko pushed the wrong button?" he jokingly offered as an explanation.

o

"All the power is off! Zero voltage!" Maya shouted when suddenly all the lights went out, casting the testing room into darkness.

Everyone looked to Ritsuko in silence. She literally felt their looks. "Hey, don't look at me like that. That wasn't me." _Why do people always think that it is me who breaks it?_

o

The main bridge was almost entirely dark, only the phosphor in the screens gave them light. Everything had become quite hectical when the power had went out. "Nothing! The emergency power is also off-line!" Lt. Aoba reported to the Vice-Commander.

"Impossible! How many systems still have power?" he asked on of the crewmen on the lower level.

"Only 1,2 percent, next to nothing!" he reported back.

"Re-route it to Central Dogma and the MAGI!" he commanded, setting the priorities.

"But Sir, then we will lose life-support," Shigeru warned him.

"Do it! The MAGI are more important!" This sudden loss of power without the emergency power activating was suspicious. _This is too much to be a coincidence... _he suspected. "Send a technical team down to the power plant. I want to know what went wrong."

* * *

_...some minutes later..._

"We have it!" one of the team members reported to their leader. "After the power was off, it was child's play to get it!"

"Excellent! Now let's get out of here, we overstayed our welcome. Our ride is waiting outside!" the team leader said, then he left with his whole team to get as much land as possible between himself and the geofront

o

Finally the crewmen had managed to ply open the door, and Dr. Akagi went out with a flashlight, followed by Lt. Ibuki. "There is definitely something not right. Seven minutes without power. Normally the emergency power should have went online by now."

"It means the elevators are also off-line. We have to use the emergency ladders if we want to reach the bridge," Maya added.

Ritsuko hated these ladders. They were perfect to give her a stiff spine. But in the time of emergency, her personal comfort had to stay back.

o

"I don't like this. There are three different and independent systems for power. That all three are now out is normally impossible," Misato said, while testing the emergency phone. "That thing is dead, too. Nothing works."

_I have no knowledge of this. Either I'm not told some things, or someone else has entered the fray. _Kaji knew what Misato meant. "But that means..."

o

"...that this isn't a coincidence. Someone must have cut off our power supply on purpose," Gendo concluded. He didn't like this at all, it was bad for his plans, regardless who was responsible.

"Total madness. If we are attacked now, we are helpless," Fuyutsuki groaned, while igniting a candle for light. Right then one of the technicans that had been sent to the power station ran back into the bridge. "Report!"

"Sir... All circuit breakers have melted through, the surrounding circuit is damaged! The connection to all generators are cut. This is clearly sabotage. We are already working on it, but it will be at least two hours, before we have power again!" the technican reported.

"The geofront had been designed as a 100 percent independent colony. To think that or first breakdown is thanks to one of our own species is a shame..." Fuyutsuki looked to Gendo. "You don't think SEELE is reponsible for this?"

Gendo thought about it for some seconds. "They have no reason to do so, it would only disrupt their own plans. And I doubt that we will catch the culprits. They are long gone by now."

* * *

_...at the same time..._

"Unknown object located. Tradjectory shows movement towards Tokyo-3," one of the soldiers reported.

"Looks like another Angel has appeared. Well, let NERV handle it. Red alert! Create a link to NERV HQ!" one of the generals ordered. They had been humiliated during the first Angel attack against Tokyo-3, they wouldn't do the same error again.

"Sir, sources report total power loss in Tokyo-3 and in the surrounding area! We can't reach NERV!"

"Damn!" a different general cursed. "What other options do we have, now that NERV is out of the picture?" he asked the other generals.

"We can warn the population, but otherwise we don't have that many options. We can only pray that NERV manages to re-start power and battle off the Angel," one suggested.

"What about Project T?" one other asked.

"Can it break through an AT-field?" the first general asked.

"I don't think so. But it could give NERV vital time to restart their systems. But we need the OK to use it," the second general suggested. "And if we can prove its effectiveness at this job, we will get a foot into the door again and a official presence at Tokyo-3."

Several minutes later, the highest ranking general hung up the phone. "The prime minister gives green light." He looked to communications. "Put me through to the airforce! And get me Project T on the line!"

Meanwhile Matarael made landfall.

_**This is really a ideal situation, **_she thought, while slowly starting the trek that would lead her to the place where her father was held as a hostage by the Lilim.

Most of her brothers and sisters said that she faught like a snake, deceitful and cowardly, sometimes implying that her personality reflected this. This however had actually come from the fact that she was one of the weakest fighters, with exception of her sister Iruel, who was even weaker but had a interesting way to balance that out. She however had no other choice than to play dirty and wait for weakness.

She actually hadn't realised that this had really made her deceitful in personality. She had arrived shortly after Sachiel, but had laid low after seeing the destructive power of the enemy. She had watched the others, through means known to her, she wasn't 'the eye' for nothing, go to their death, waiting for a moment of weakness in the enemy. Her AT-field might be strong enough to deflect a coventional attack of weak Lilim weapons (she hoped they wouldn't use one of these bombs, she was sure she wouldn't survive one), but since these abnorminations could neutralise it, she didn't dare to risk her ass without being sure of her victory.

And when she had seen all the power dying in the city, she knew the time had come to strike. _**They can think about me as they want, my loyality goes towards my father. And as much as I would like to destroy these murderers of my silbrings, the others are better fitted for it, than me. **_They might see it as her leaving them the dirty work, but she again wasn't built for that job.

_**Be surprised who knocks at your door, Lilim, **_Matarael laughed, while moving towards her destination.

* * *

_...at the entrance to the geofront..._

"No, nothing. Seems you had been right, everything is dead. But what the hell could cause a total power loss?" Asuka wondered, while testing another door.

"Any idea?" Shinji asked Rei, since she worked the longest in the geofront.

"No. A power loss normally should be impossible," Rei told them. She did know some specifics of the geofront, and a power loss hadn't been even considered in the plans. "Outside interference must have happened to cause this, no other explanation is possible."

"I don't like the sound of that..." Shinji pulled out his cell phone to call headquarters, but he only got static. "Of course, I idiot!... With a power loss, the cell phone network is also offline in this region. And I don't think a pay phone will have more success."

"That's just great. It's a hot day, all air conditioners are offline and we are locked out of the geofront," Asuka complained. "What the hell are we supposed to do now?" she wondered aloud. She had trained to pilot EVA, not to stand before locked doors. Also she itched to do something, she hated being helpless.

Wordless, Rei pulled a small plastic card out of her school bag, broke it open and read the paper that had been in it. Asuka started to search in her own bag, but Rei, upon noticing this, said, "Only I have a copy of the emergency protocol with me."

"Why only you? Do you enjoy special treatment in that they give you one, but not us? You, the favourite First Child?" Asuka snapped, irritated at the blue-haired girl.

After her conflict with Rei over Shinji had been over, she had first mostly ignored her. But after some time, she had started sniping at her over her supposed role as the Commander's favourite, who gets a special treatment, despite Shinji telling her of her previous living arrangements. Truth to be told, she felt threatened in her position by the first regular pilot in Tokyo-3.

"Don't start this again. You know very well that she doesn't get any special treatment, so leave her in peace and stop treat her like that," Shinji warned her.

He had told her already once that she shouldn't accuse Rei of this. He had no idea why she thought so, since actually Rei was really treated no different from them. He guessed that she simply didn't like Rei, as he had witnessed often enough during her I-like-you phase, where she had pulled Rei verbally through the dirt.

Asuka snorted. "Really? You are the one to say, your daddy the Commander. A little nepotism here and there..."

"Don't even mention my old man..." Shinji growled very angry. "If not for the Angels, the only thing I would have given him would be a kick into his ass!" Even the mere idea of his father helping him to get the pilot job was an insult to him. Asuka took a step backwards. She hadn't expected Shinji to react so angry to this.

"This dispute is irrelevant. I simply had requested a personal copy of the emergency protocol," Rei said, being done reading the instructions. "We have to reach the headquarters to recieve further orders, it says."

"How are we supposed to get there? The problem is that we can't get in," Shinji asked Rei. He wondered if these rules forgot that possible event.

"There are maintenence tunnels that will lead into the geofront. From there it will be only a short distance to the headquarters," Rei explained further. "The next entrance should be around the corner to the left."

"Then what are we waiting for? Follow my lead!" Without waiting for them, Asuka started to walk towards the maintanance door, throwing her school bag onto a bench. Having no choice, Rei and Shinji followed her, despoiting their own bags at the same spot.

Arriving at the door, they saw the manual door opener beside it. "What are you waiting for? This is a man's job."

Shinji really wondered what had crawled up her ass. She was the most stuck-up girl he had ever met. And it didn't help that she was prone to enormous mood swings. "You play the leader, but are lazy as hell. Come Rei, let's open this thing together..." _Actually I'm glad that she doesn't want to dirty her hands. She can't do something wrong that way._

The mechanism was slightly jammed since it had never been used before, but slowly they managed to open the door. Walking through it, they entered the vast tunnel system under Tokyo-3 to reach the geofront.

Asuka walked at the front, hoping that she could show these two that she was the ideal leader, making a point that she should lead them into battle, too, as she was a leader personality, or at least she thought so. That and she would never follow the directs of Rei. _Now I only have to get the right intersections into the geofront..._

Shinji hoped that Asuka wouldn't lead them on a wild goose chase through the tunnels. He doubted that she knew where to go, but he was even less eager to have to argue with Asuka to no end, even more so because she would only insult Rei more than she already had, since Rei obviously knew where to go. _I hope my feet won't make me regret this decision._

Rei meanwhile was wondering why Shinji hadn't insisted that she would lead them, despite her being the best suited for the task. She knew the layout of the tunnel system. But she had noticed that interhuman interaction often wasn't logical, so she didn't even bother to find an answer to it. Instead she thought of how Shinji had defended her from Asuka's accusions.

_Shinji Ikari, you make me feel...loved. This is what is called being loved? It feels so good, _Rei thought, while they walked deeper into the dimly lit tunnel system.

* * *

_...in Tokyo-3..._

**"This is the Japanese Defense Force! An Angel is on the way to the city! All civilians have to seek shelter! I repeat..."**

"Oh damn!" Makoto cursed when hearing this broadcast from a military plane flying over the city. "I have to go into the geofront...But how the hell can I go fast enough?" He knew by now that all the power was off, and he knew that meant the geofront was off-line, too.

Seeing a campaign van driving around the corner, he had an idea. "Stop!" he called, pulling out his card, showing it to the driver. "I'm from NERV, this is an emergency! I must get into the geofront, fast!"

The driver and the woman controling the microphone knew that NERV was the final authority in the city, so they had no way to say no. Hyuga jumped into the van, and it sped off towards the carway into the geofront, while at the same time the Angel appeared from behind the hills surrounding the city.

"Oh no, the Angel is already here!" Makoto cursed.

The entrance to the geofront appeared, but there was a little problem. "Look out! The barrier is down!" the announcer woman screamed.

"Drive through it! On my risk!" Makoto ordered the driver, who seemed to really enjoy doing more than just slowly cruising through the streets.

"No! Stop it!" **-craaccc- **Breaking through the barrier, the van vanished into the tunnel towards the geofront.

* * *

_...in the tunnel system..._

"This goes up and not down," Shinji commented. Right now they were walking up some stairs to a door, and he already had concluded that going to the geofront would rather mean going down. _I don't believe it that she already got us lost..._

"Oh, keep quiet, the geofront is right behind this door!" Asuka snapped, before kicking the door open, only to see the street level of Tokyo-3. And suddenly...

**-Boooomk-**

A huge black leg impacted in front of her, and when it again moved away she was confronted with the sight of an Angel looking remotely like a spider with four legs, but with the main body being shaped like a simple black ball with the top cut off, surrounded by numerous eyes. It suddenly stopped, its many eyes watching her.

"Aaaah!" screaming in panic, she slammed the door shut.

Matarael couldn't help but to laugh. That was the first Lilim she had seen in this city, and she had looked as if she was ready to wet herself. _**Weak offspring of Lilith... **_she snickered, before continuing her search for the right place.

Asuka still felt the panic in her. But she tried to surpress the horror, so that she wouldn't look weak. She hated to be weak, being weak meant that she couldn't stay at the top. Forcing the mask of the tough girl back on, she said, "We now know that an Angel is attacking us, meaning we have to hurry."

Shinji snorted. "Don't try to fool me, you nearly pissed yourself in terror. And I've no wish for you to get us lost in here again." Shinji looked to Rei. "You know best where to go. So lead us."

"I understand, Shinji. Please follow me," she answered, walking towards the stairs that led into the geofront.

"How embarrassing..." Asuka grumbled, "that I have to follow this frigid doll."

"I told you to stop that!" Shinji snapped, finally having enough. His patience was limited, and now the limit was reached.

"Why? The Commander only has to say to jump, and she will ask how high. She would even lick a toilet clean if he commands her to do it. Sure you love the obident girl..." Asuka needled further, venting the frustration at her earlier fear this way.

Shinji wanted to give her a piece of his mind, but Rei had stopped, looking at Asuka. "You are wrong, Pilot Soryu. I only follow orders for my designated purpose. And to start a relationship with Shinji was my own choice."

"Says the frigid block of ice," Asuka said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"I am both, capable of emotion, and of having strong feelings for someone else." As to underline her point, she suddenly grabbed Shinji and without warning gave him a passionate kiss. After ten seconds, she released him. "But we do not have any time to lose now." That said, Rei went on, leading them into the geofront.

Shinji felt a little overwhelmed at how openly Rei showed her attraction to him. Looking over the darkened geofront, he saw the stairwell that led down on the ground level. "There... Let's go!" He didn't want to risk the Angel ripping them to shreds. But also he had no desire to be in the dark with a sulking Asuka.

Asuka herself grumbled. Ayanami was really annoying her. While she had realised that she felt nothing for Shinji, her constant displays of affection were starting to make her really angry. She swore, when this was over, a big box chocolate ice cream would be waiting for her.

o

"It's awfully hot in here without the air condition," Maya groaned, while using a fan to cool herself. Without the life support systems, the air had become smelly and it was really warm by now, with the heat unable to escape.

"We have the most modern techology in the world, yet have to use candles. It's a joke," Ritsuko added, feeling awfully warm as well. "What else can go wrong now?" she wondered. There would be still quite some time before the power would be restored.

Her question was answered when suddenly a minivan stopped with screetching tires on the lowest bridge level. **"Attention! An Angel is moving in! We have to ready an EVA!" **Makoto annouced over the loudspeaker, warning everyone.

"How? We have no power!" Maya called back.

_This situation is getting out of control faster than we have thought. It looks like I have to interfere... _"Fuyutsuki, take over..." Gendo suddenly said. "I will instruct the crews to ready the EVA units manually."

"Manually? Is that even possible?" The Vice-Commander wondered. He had never heared of the possibility that they could ready the EVAs without power.

"We have the Diesel generators for emergencies, they will charge the batteries, the rest will be pure strength." That said, Gendo left.

"What use is that without pilots?" Fuyutsuki wondered aloud. And that Gendo suddenly became that active was witness how serious he saw the situation. Otherwise he would never lower himself to this task personally.

* * *

_...in the elevator..._

"I really hope they get us out of here... It's almost unbearable without air condition in here," Misato groaned while taking off her jacket. She also groaned because the longer she was locked in with Kaji, the more her thoughts dwelled on him. And she couldn't even flee into her anger, because he had held back with stupid comments, acting pretty gentleman-like.

"Why are you still refusing to look at me? It's not as if I'm Medusa or something like that," Ryoji asked her.

Misato turned around, looking hard to him. "Look, I don't want to talk to you, all right?"

"Why? What did I do to make you so pissed off at me?" he finally asked her. He should have asked her this much earlier.

"You know why!" Misato snapped.

"Oh no, I don't! It was you who said that it couldn't work out any longer one day. It was you who left me, saying that you realised that it was an error without any explanation. So stop making me responsible for your decision! So why always this angry-hissy against me?" Ryoji snapped back, losing his cool.

It was exactly this fact that Misato tried to forget, that it was her fault that everything had fallen apart. She didn't want to remember it. But being locked into an elevator for almost a hour with him had worn down her defenses. So she finally spelled out the truth. "It is regret over my reasons, all right?"

Kaji's eyes softened when finally hearing this confession. "I wondered for a long time what I had done wrong to cause you leaving... Was it me?"

Now the cat was out of the bag, and Misato felt she had no choice other than to tell the truth now. "No, it wasn't you... It was...you reminded me of my father, how he acted, in his personality, and it brought up all the conflicted emotions on him. I took the easy way out and fled... I want to be angry so I won't remember that it was stupid."

Kaji knew what Misato meant with that reference to her father. "You mean behind that anger you actually think I'm not that bad of a guy?"

Misato wondered if she should admit it, but then again, what did she have to lose now? "Sometimes, when you don't act overtly macho-like or are a smart-ass. I actually like this more serious side of yours that you show right now, it is a lot more appealing."

"So where do we stand now?" Ryoji asked her, feeling that the worst was now done.

Leaning against the wall, Misato admitted to herself, that she actually had no clue. She hadn't prepared for a situation like this. "Not where we once where..."

"What about this: we stay civil to each other, and we'll see what comes out of it, all right?" Kaji offered. Right now getting back on a friendly basis with Misato seemed to be a good start, now that he knew that she wasn't as much angry at him than at herself.

"I guess that's the best we can do for now..." Misato admitted. "I really hope they get us out of here soon," she added.

"Why? Do you have an important appointment?" Kaji asked, wondering what could it be.

"No... I just realised that I had a little too much coffee today..."

Kaji really hoped that they would get them out in time.

* * *

_...somwhere else in the geofront..._

"How the hell did that happen?" Shinji wondered, when they stood before the bakkelite-sealed corridor blocking their way deeper into the HQ. If they had to use the other way, they would have to make a big detour, which would cost them much time.

"Someone must have tampered with the security system to seal off this corridor," Rei explained, testing the wall. "And a detour would cost us too much time. So we have to go through an air duct."

_Oh, she always knows what to do... Nobody can tell me that she isn't trying to secure her position, _Asuka thought, watching Rei looking for the right entrance to the ventilation system.

o

Ritsuko watched the crewmen putting the entry plugs into position through pure muscle power and primitive tools. It was a testament to their teamwork that all three EVAs were ready, with the Diesel generators having fully loaded the internal batteries. What had surprised her was the Commander actually helping to put the entry plug of Unit-01 into position.

"The EVA units are ready, but what use is this without pilots?" Lt. Ibuki asked her.

"I have a feeling that they will be here very soon..."

Right then an air vent was kicked open, and Rei jumped out, followed by Shinji and then Asuka. "An Angel is attacking the city," Rei stated.

Ritsuko glaced to Maya, who looked astounded at her good prediction, then back to the children. "We know, the EVAs are all ready for you with the full five minutes on the batteries."

"How did you do this without power?" Shinji asked her.

"We did everything manually with pure muscle power. Was the Commander's idea," Dr. Akagi explained.

"My old man?" Shinji asked skeptically.

"I think this can wait for now. There is no time for you to change into your suits. Give me everything that won't like LCL, I'll store it in your lockers, then get into the entry plugs. We have no time to lose!" she urged them.

They quickly emptied their pockets. "Here, please don't lose this," Shinji said while handling her his locket. Then all three of them ran up the stairs that led to their entry plugs.

Dr. Akagi looked at the locket, which had a picture of the woman inside, that Gendo still couldn't let go of. For a second she thought about 'accidently' losing it, but discarded that idea. She would return it to Shinji. It was his, and she wouldn't do this to him.

* * *

_...meanwhile at the surface..._

_**Finally...over there should be the right place for me to melt my way through... **_Matarael concluded.

After systematically looking for the best place to enter, she had located the central shaft. It would be very easy to break it open with her acid and widen it far enough for central body to enter, after removing her legs. She would grow new ones once down there.

_**More over there, and... **_She was interrupted when suddenly... **-KKRRTSHHHT- **Feeling a energy beam dissapaiting into her AT-field, Matarael was alarmed at once. Searching her surroundings, she located the culprit. _**Who is that?**_

Another beam was fired at her, while the attacker seemed to wait for her reaction. Her field again stopped the attack, but these beams were quite powerful. A little too powerful for her weak AT-field. _**I must get rid of this thing... Otherwise it will slowly drain my field.**_

Moving her central body upwards, she shot acid out of one of her many eyes. Her enemy hovered aside, the acid instead hitting a building that instantly started to melt. She tried again, only to again miss the target. _**Stand still, you nuisance! **_Again a miss, instead a laser beam hit her, straining her field.

_**I have ENOUGH! **_she finally exploded.

Waving one of her legs, a thorn shot out of it, and this time it hit her enemy square on. _**Take that... **_Astoundingly, her enemy didn't quit and instead fired explosives at her. But these were far less dangerous to her. However, they created a smoke screen, making it impossible for her to see her surroundings any longer.

_**Where are you little pest?**_

**-ZZZT- **As an answer, she was hit from a different side by the laser, again draining some of her field.

Matarael had totally forgotten the central shaft by now. The metal cover was broken open from the inside, three EVA units climbing out of the hole, their assault rifles ready. "There is it!" Asuka called, seeing the Angel, who seemed to be busy with something they couldn't see right now, surrounded by dirty smoke. After climbing up the central shaft, she only wanted to show the Angel that she wasn't amused.

"Asuka, to the left, Rei to my right! Neutralise its field, then blast it!" Shinji said. They had only a minute left in their batteries, so they had to act fast to get this one out of the way. So Shinji didn't want to take any chances.

Asuka hated being ordered around, but since there was no time to be wasted, she ran with Unit-02 into position. "Understood," Rei acknowledged, running with Unit-00 into the opposite direction. Effectively the created a triangle around the Angel, who seemed to ignore them, distracted by the smoke around it.

"Ok, activate your fields!" Shinji told them. All three EVA's activated their fields, neutralising the Angel's own field.

Matarael suddenly felt her field fizzling out. _**What is going on? **_she wondered. The smoke cleared up enough for her many eyes to see three of the creations of the Lilim facing her, weapons drawn. _**No! This can't be happening!**_

**"FIRE!" **Shinji screamed.

**-Brrraataktaktaktaktaktaktak-**

All three of them pumped the entire burst capacity of their rifles into the central body of the Angel, literally perforating it like a swiss cheese, causing it to bleed out acid like a sliced open milk box. In mere two seconds, the whole central body was a mess of holes.

_**But...everything...nothing could have...gone wrong... **_Dying, Matarael collapsed into the streets of Tokyo-3, only wondering in her last moments, what she had forgotten that caused her to lose the day, despite her being sure that nothing would stand in her way.

Kneeling down, the three EVA's used their last power to eject the entry plugs. Climbing out, the pilots just managed to see something flying away at high speed, unable to see its shape clearly. They only knew that it had been quite big.

"I now knew why not to wear anything else than a plugsuit..." Asuka wailed, seeing that her school uniform would need a tough wash to get the LCL and its smell out.

Meeting at a intersection with a great view on the corpse of the Angel, all three pilots were surprised that it had been this easy. "Well, that was rather anti-climatic..." Shinji commented. "The Angel had no chance at all against us. Without the power loss, we would have easily defeated it... Any idea what that other thing was?"

"I don't care. I'm more disappointed with the lousy performance of that Angel," Asuka snorted, looking at the corpse. There was no way to get fame if the enemy was this easily defeated.

"I do not know. But possibly we will know soon enough," Rei answered Shinji, wondering herself what this could have been.

Looking up to the blazing sun, Shinji groaned when feeling the LCL slowly starting the dry under the heat. "We better find some water. It will be still some time before we have power again, and that stuff already starts to dry..."

"Yes, that would be unpleasant," Rei agreed. While she stayed calm on the outside, she felt the drying LCL itch in places better left untold. That was another advantage of a plugsuit, you didn't risk that stuff drying in uncomfortable places.

"I can only agree on that...let's find a bathing house..." Asuka had no wish to let that stuff dry while still being in her hair. It would be difficult as hell to get it out later.

* * *

_...a little over a hour later..._

"Please, someone! Let me out! Or I will have a nasty toilet accident!" Misato wailed, while banging against the door. She by now really regretted drinking so much coffee. She felt it, even a minute more, and she would have the most embarrassing moment of her life directly in front of Kaji.

Said Kaji really hoped that they would get them out soon. He was relieved that they had finally talked and eased a good part of the tension, and he had no desire to see her humiliated. Suddenly the light went back on, and the elevator descended again. "I guess the Gods heared your plea."

Misato didn't waste any time. As soon as the doors opened, she dashed out, knocking Ritsuko down in the process, and made a mad dash towards the woman's lavatory. _I will make it! I will make it!_

"How rude..." Ritsuko commented, while getting up. Makoto and Maya seemed more surprised by the Captain's strange behaviour, just now watching her vanishing behind a corner. Ritsuko looked to Ryoji. "Did you make her so mad that she had to go away from you?" she asked him.

Kaji couldn't surpress a small smile. "Cold..very cold. Actually we had used the time to finally talk about things and get a number of misunderstandings out of the world. As for why this... Let's say she obviously will cut back on the coffee for some time."

They needed some seconds for it made click in their heads.

"I hope she makes it," Maya commented.

Later, Ritsuko checked several things throughout the geofront. Misato actually had made it, but she had sworn off the coffee. Ritsuko knew that this would probably would only last for two hours, considering Misato's track record.

Walking towards the biological vaults in the lower levels, she noticed something. _Strange... I thought I had closed that door..wait, the lock was broken open?_

She suddenly had a very dark suspiction. Running down the corridor to the high-security vault for violate biological compounds, she saw that the vault door was open, too. Normally it was secured by a electromagnetic field. But since there had been a blackout... "Don't tell me..." Checking the vault, her worst fears were confirmed.

_This can't be happening!_

Minutes later Gendo and Kozo were just busy with cleaning up the administrative mess after the blackout, the Angel attack and the mysterious help, when Dr. Akagi ran into the room, some shades paler. Both men could see at once that something was amiss. "Yes, Dr. Akagi?" Gendo asked her.

Ritsuko panted. "Sir...the high security vault was broken open. Adam... They, whoever they are... they have stolen Adam."

"Great Gods..." Fuyutsuki was well aware that now someone had a weapon of unimaginable power at their hands. It also meant that they had to somehow explain to SEELE that Adam had been stolen from them, throwing a wench into their plans. He didn't want to imagine their reactions.

Gendo for his part was shocked for the first time in years. Adam was a integral part of his plans. And now with him stolen... "Impossible!"

"What will we tell SEELE now?" Fuyutsuki wondered aloud. He wouldn't show it, but while he feared what someone else would do with Adam, he at least now wouldn't have to witness what Gendo wanted to do with him.

Gendo tried to regain his cool, but he only succeeded partly. "The truth of course."

This however was the first time he actually hoped that the old men wouldn't do any harsh things. This situation was now a real mess for him.

* * *

_...meanwhile in a unknown laboratory..._

"How is the speciem doing?" a scientist asked another.

"Perfect. It is alive, but the growth rate is so small we can neglect it. This means we won't have any problems," he reported. "The special nutrient solution will keep it alive, but nothing more."

"Perfect, it won't give us any trouble then," the first scientist concluded. "I heared that we used a very bad time to retivre it, an Angel attacked during the blackout. Good thing that nothing serious happened."

Looking to the other end of the room, there was a big, transparent cylinder. Within the blue nutrient solution floated the embryonic form of Adam, the First Angel. The laboratory was deep in the underground and so far away from Tokyo-3, the Angels would never find it and their all-father.

_**to be continued...**_

_**Next Episode:**_

_**"Enter Mana Kirishima"**_


	14. Enter Mana Kirishima

I will say these things in advance: I have absolutely no rights at NGE, but you should have already known that.

The story itself is basically a re-telling of the original storyline, but twisted into my way. While at the beginning there seem to be only few divigances, it will become more with each episode. The people, their motivations and the backgrounds are while holding true to the basic layout, changed at my imagination in many details, so canon-purists now are allowed to flame me.

NOTE: I hate both, the ending of the TV series, and how End of Evangelion turned out. So don't expect any of those outcomes.

This is Shinji/Rei. Enter Mana and enter further divigences from the canon. I insert a part of a scene from "Girlfriend of Steel". Can you identify it?

For all the work I put into this, I would like to get reviews. I will always try to respond to every review I get.

* * *

**Chapter 13: Enter Mana Kirishima**

"How could this have happened?"

"This is totally unacceptable! It puts our plans far behind!"

"And we trusted him to you, Ikari? We shouldn't have!"

"This is striking incompetence!"

And these were the more harmless things the members of SEELE had to say. Gendo had found that it was best to notify them as fast as possible. To say that they were extremely angry over the theft of Adam was an understatement. They were furious, and it was like a pool full of sharks. Gendo had only very seldom seen them this angry before. Worse, Keel hadn't said anything yet, which always was a bad sign.

"It is unknown who is responsible for the theft. However, it clearly was a inside job, since a dozend of our staff have vanished, too," Gendo explained, remaining calm, althrough inside he feared that in their anger the comitee could do rash things.

"A little too much of a coincidence! Perhaps you saw a better use for Adam!"

The accusion stood in the room now, and everyone seemed to think about it. Keel used this moment to finally adress Gendo. "I'm extremely disappointed in you, Ikari! We gave you Adam for safekeeping, yet you allowed this theft in your carelessness! I however do not believe that you are the thief, otherwise I would now propose to relief you of your command."

The meaning of these words was clear, they wouldn't tolerate another greater screw-up that would put their plans further behind. Gendo was now on probation. More than he had actually imagined to get.

"What about this unknown third party?"

"They can be quite dangerous for our plans, if they continue to meddle in our affairs."

"We will find those responsible," Keel told them with confidence. "However, we have to fasten and adapt our own plans, if we want to gather the fruits of years of work. Ikari, a special fleet will be prepared to retivre the lance from Antarctica, leaving port in ten days. You and Fuyutsuki will personally observe this operation. And dare you, should you fail us another time..."

"I understand. Your orders will be followed to the letter," Gendo acknowledged cooly. The holograms disappeared.

_These old men might be too trusting in me, but they are not stupid. I will better be careful for the time being... _he thought, while leaving the conference room.

He had been too overconfident, and it had nearly cost him his head. He also had to create a new plan. With Adam gone, his carefully created plan was now impossible to put into motion. Still, he would use what he had read in the scrolls to his own advantage. He would be re-united with Yui. There were other ways, he only had to find the best one.

Walking into his office, he saw Fuyutsuki at the phone, discussing something in a hard voice, that meant that it was something serious. "...this can't be seriously considered by them... It is already decided? Just perfect... When will it arrive?...I understand. Yes, I will inform him." Hanging up the phone, he looked to the Commander. "This was the general staff of the JSSDF."

"What did they want?" Gendo asked. It was good that he had managed to get them out of Tokyo-3, so what did they now want to bother them with?

"I looks like they found a way to reclaim lost prestige. And now they can re-establish their presence here..." That said, he explained what had happened, and Gendo felt that he had just recieved more curious eyes sniffing in their matters, despite the fact that this help actually would be welcome.

"When will they arrive?" he finally asked.

"Tomorrow evening they will move to the outer edge of the city."

* * *

_...next day, evening..._

"What could be so important to keep Misato at work for so long?" Shinji wondered aloud, while cleaning the dishes. It was now long past her usual hours. And while it was true that right now they were busy with removing the corpse of the last Angel, it didn't explain her extra load of work.

He also remembered the extra load of work they got today.

Dr. Akagi had literally put them through the whole test and training regime to see if everything was all right after that power loss. She seemed a little distracted, but that hadn't to mean anything, since she had a number of things to think about all the time. He was still tired because of hours inside the entry plug, and only wanted to go to bed after being done with the dishes.

Asuka was tight-lipped, still a little miffed about her day full of training. Right now she was under the shower, and Shinji wouldn't dare to come close to the bathroom right now. And Rei, while not showing it to the outside, had admitted that she felt tired, too, so she had went to bed earlier.

Shinji wanted to put away the next plate, when...

**-Brooobooomm- -klirr-**

"Oh great, Misato will love this..." Shinji groaned. He had been so surprised by the sound of something big hitting the ground through the open balcony doors, that he had dropped the plate, which now was a mass of broken shards. "What the hell could this have been...? Couldn't be an Angel, there are no alarms."

Wondering, he went to the balcony, only to stop in the door, shell-shocked at the sight that greeted him. Asuka must have heared it too, and seemed to have run straight out of the shower to overlook the city, only to see something speed away with high velocity.

"What the hell was that?" Asuka wondered aloud. She had been so curious that she had totally ignored that she was totally naked and dripping wet. "Why don't they sound the alarms? And where is baka-Shinji when you need him?" She also wondered if this could be a way to show off.

Shinji swallowed hard. He got a premium view of Asuka's bare, firm ass. A view that suddenly made him remember that he was a boy, and reacted in the predicted way. Shinji had really no desire to get Asuka pissed off at him for her own oversight, so he silently retreated to his room.

_What the hell is it with me and seeing naked girls? Others might think of it as heaven, but I find it quite hard... -sigh- and of of course now that's hard, too... _Shinji wondered if Asuka really had a exhibitionistic streak, while taking care of his problem.

Asuka meanwhile had finally realised her oversight, when the mild evening air had reminded her what she had forgotten. Running back into the bathroom, she was madly blushing. At least Shinji hadn't seen her like this! She couldn't believe that she had made the same error as on her first day in the apartment.

_What the hell is it with me forgetting that I'm naked? I hope this won't become a permanent thing... _Shuddering at the mere thought, she closed the door behind herself.

Had she looked to the side, she would have seen Pen-Pen covering his eyes with his flippers, fearing the possible consequences of being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Meanwhile on the other end of the city, a different conversation was taking place.

"What was the idea behind crashing on the street? I thought we agreed, no stupid stunts?" a male voice demanded angily over radio.

"Please, I said I'm sorry! I had to sneeze suddenly and lost control over the flight. It really was an accident. Thankfully the street was empty when I crashed. So no damage done," the voice of a girl tried to excuse, sounding quite embarrassed.

"If you weren't such a sweet girl, I would give you a spanking for this. We didn't make you the pilot of Trident, only to have you crash when you have to sneeze..." There was less anger in his voice now.

"Ohhh...come on, that's my first accident in five whole months..." the girl protested.

"All right, I will drop it... But you go straight to bed after landing. Remember that we will have guests tomorrow," he reminded her.

"Oh yes... I wonder if he is cute..."

* * *

_...next morning..._

"Why is Wondergirl eating breakfast with us? Doesn't she have her own kitchen?" Asuka asked Misato, a little irritated at the sight after leaving the bathroom.

"Rei is here because I asked her. I will explain, why," Misato told her, before returning her attention to her coffee.

"Jeez, what is it with you and picking on Rei? You really have a thick stick shoven up your ass," Shinji frowned. Asuka's dislike of Rei only had deepened after the last Angel crisis, and it was really irritating. Thankfully when Rei wasn't in the same room, Asuka was not even closly as obnoxious.

Rei blinked when hearing this figure of speech, then looked to Shinji, while putting her glass of milk on the table. "Wouldn't it cause Pilot Soryu serious pain to have a thick stick insert into her rectum?" she asked Shinji in all naivity.

Misato nearly choked on her coffee when she had to laugh hearing this. Asuka looked at Rei as if she was seeing a total idiot, then said something on German that probably wasn't nice, since Misato gave her a warning look.

Shinji groaned. That wasn't the first time Rei misunderstood a figure of speech. "Rei, it means that she is really impossible with her behaviour on one or more topics," he patiently explained to her.

"I understand." Actually she didn't really understand this figure of speech. What had a stick shoven into a rectum to do with obnoxious behaviour? She saw no logical connection. But after so many illogical things in human behaviour, she filed it away under things that she propably would understand later on her own, and at least she now understood the right meaning.

"You must have lived in a cave all of your life..." Asuka said in annoyance at Rei's unknowigness, before turning her attention to the task of filling her stomach. Rei decided to ask Shinji later what this now meant, while returning her attention to her milk.

Seeing that now was a good time, Misato put down her cup. "All right, I guess you now want to know what I have to say and why Rei is here... We will get reinforcements, that's why I was home late."

"More EVAs?" Asuka asked, wondering if there were more production units. She wasn't keen on having to babysit more pilots and tell them what to do.

"While we do have two more units in the States...no. We don't have access to these right now. Our reinforcement isn't even within NERV. Remember your mysterious helper against the last Angel? The government has its own project, the Country Crawler, also called 'Trident'. It's a hell of a battle machine and the act of delaying the Angel until you killed it gave them enough credit, that the UN decided to agree with them that they will be benefectial for the defense of the city, which means that we again have the army moving into Tokyo-3," Misato explained.

"If it is a machine, it can't generate an AT-field to break through an Angel's field. Doesn't that reduce its worth?" Shinji asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It is there to scout, delay and attack when the field of the Angel is down, not for a full frontal attack. Basically it's there to supplement you. But all the details will be explained later. I will drive you to the hangar where Trident is stationed... Remember that huge rice field in the west? They have placed a whole army base there over night, guess this time they want to stay here..." She snorted the last thing. The army had been humiliated out of Tokyo-3. To have them again create a, propably this time permanent, presence to look on NERV's fingers was bound to create conflict.

"Please don't tell me that it's a dumb robot like Jet Alone," Shinji added, remembering Misato's description of the maybe dumbest attempt to get into competition with NERV.

"Nope. It's piloted by someone of your age. But I actually have no idea if it's a boy or a girl," Misato admitted. "Guess we will see."

"Even if it's a boy, I doubt he will be very interesting. Either a nerd or a jock, exactly like Shinji's two stooge friends. It's not that I even need a boy," Asuka commented, while putting the butter on her toast. "And no girl can come close to me anyway, despite how good they do..."

Shinji decided to not comment her moment of self-worth-maximation, and shook his head when he saw Rei being about to say something, most likely a comment that she actually did compete quite well with her. Rei thankfully understood and stayed silent. Misato however was less inhibited in that regard.

"Reeeaaly, you don't need boys? I didn't know that you swing that way, but should be difficult if you won't let any girl near you," she implied with an impish grin.

Asuka needed some seconds, but when she understood the meaning of these words, she went some shades redder. "No! I didn't mean it that way! I don't think of other girls like that!" she tried to defend herself. Seeing Misato snicker, her embarrassment turned to anger. "You are digusting, Misato! To even imply that I'm that way!"

Seeing Rei again looking to him questioning, Shinji whispered "Later!" to her. The rest of the breakfast went over in mostly silence. Asuka was sulking over Misato's joke and hadn't said one more word.

So 20 minutes later, they were in Misato's car, all hoping that they could hold down their breakfast, since Misato's horrible kamikaze-style of driving was bound to make them sick sooner or later. Even Rei looked paler than usual, and that meant something. That was exactly the reason why Shinji and Asuka prefered public transportation, it was much safer for their well being and their nerves. It was paradox, they piloted 40-meters big mechas, but feared Misato's car.

After a series of sharp turns at high speed, Rei felt something in her stomach start to protest violently. A feeling she found disturbing. Sure she had felt slight stomach sickness numerous times thanks to accidently swallowed LCL, but this was different.

Finally they stopped on the parking lot in front of the new army base, outside of the fence near the entrance. It was really impressive that a whole army base had been created overnight, until you knew that it were modular buildings that only had to be delivered.

"Rei, is something wrong?" Shinji asked a little worried, seeing her weak on her feet after they had left the car.

Rei wanted to answer, but she felt suddenly as if her innards were forced upwards, first resulting in a sick belch when the air was forced out of her stomach. Sinking to her knees, she had to throw up violently. Shinji held her, while she coughed up some more.

"Geez, Misato. You drive so mad, that even Wondergirl gets sick," Asuka commented to her guardian. Misato had the decency to look embarrassed.

Finally Shinji helped up Rei, after she had spat out the bitter remnants in her mouth. "Thank you, Shinji..." she thanked him for his support. It felt reassuring for her, whenever he helped her. She felt...disgust...at what she had just done, as it had been very unpleasant and had left a horrible taste in her mouth. She hadn't gotten sick at all since her activation (injured didn't count), so this was a first.

Misato held a half filled plastic bottle with water to her. Good that she had forgotten that some days ago in the car. "Uhmm...here. Use this to wash out your mouth, all right? I know that you need it." Wordless Rei accepted the bottle, and some spat-out water later, the bitter taste was gone.

"Misato, could you please drive a little less mad in the future?" Shinji asked Misato. He wasn't happy that because of Misato's tendency to drive dangerous, Rei had gotten sick in her stomach.

"Then where would be the fun in that?" Misato returned. Hearing laughter, Misato turned around, to see Asuka being amused. "What is so funny?"

"Haha...imagine that next time someone throws up while still in the car. Guess how difficult it will be to get that mess cleaned up and the smell out," she laughed. Imagining Misato groaning when seeing the mess was really funny.

Misato imagined it, and decided that driving a little slower might be a good idea after all for her car, her nose and her wallet.

* * *

_...ten minutes later..._

"Ah, welcome! I'm Major Hanson, inventor and commander of the Trident project!" a man in his late thirties greeted them in front of the huge hangar building in the middle of the base. He looked friendly enough, but obviously a love for burgers made him fill his uniform a little too much. "And you three are the pilots we've helped two days ago?"

"Not that we we would have needed it, but still thanks," Asuka waved it off, coming over a little rude. She however didn't notice it.

The Major frowned a little, but then smirked. "I bet you want to see Trident...?"

"That's why we are here," Misato stated, not liking the smirk.

The Major pushed a button on the wall, and the hangar door slid open, revealing a huge machine. It looked a little like a cross between a Imperial Walker from Star Wars and a mechanical lizard, was as big as a EVA and was armed with a really nastly looking cannon under its chin. There were big jet engines on its back, and more on the underside to enable hovering. On first sight they already could see that it was quite a battle machine, standing before them.

They looked at it in awe, even after working with EVAs, this was still quite a sight.

The Major looked pleased that this sight had shut them up, so he now wanted to milk this moment. "This is the Country Crawler TRIDENT! The result of three years of hard work! Trident has an internal fusion cell for its power supply and has the firepower more than double that of a battleship main gun battery. It's armour is strong enough to even withstand the area effect of a N2-mine and it has a rudimentary AI, which is essential in assisting the pilot. Beside its walker mode, it is capable of flight with the legs attaching themselves to the main body, and movement through water. It is the most versatile unit in the JSSDF!"

All of them were still awed, with exception of Rei. It was a big battle machine, yes, but nothing extraordinary. And she didn't see any point to look at the machine longer than needed. Staying calm and already having noticed all features on the Trident, she turned to Hanson. "Who is the pilot of Trident?" she asked, short and to the point.

_Drats, looks like she wasn't impressed... _"Well, the pilot is..."

"Actually, that would be me," said suddenly the voice of a girl from behind them.

Turning around, they saw a girl in a sundress approaching them. She had medium-length light-brown hair with a light red tint, pale green eyes and looked really good. She also seemed really relaxed. Asuka noticed that it was the same sundress she had, only in white. She hoped that this girl wouldn't try to copy her. Her sixth sense told her, that there was possible competition before her. And that meant she had to watch out.

"I'm Mana. Mana Kirishima, the pilot of Trident. I'm so excited to meet you," she introduced herself.

Seeing that it would be better to make introducions fast, Misato took things into her own hands. "Very pleasant to meet you. I'm Captain Misato Katsuragi. This here are Rei Ayanami, Asuka Langley Soryu and Shinji Ikari, the pilots of the Evangelion units," she introduced her group. All of them greeted Mana.

Mana walked closer to Shinji. _Ohhh, he is really cute... _"I feel that we can be really good friends. Do you know that I will be in your class at school?"

Shinji noticed the look she gave him. _Oh, please no! I don't want another girl to pull another Asuka-stunt over me!_

Rei saw it too, and her calm outer apperance shifted, showing her displeasure. After the events surrounding her and Asuka, she this time wouldn't waste any time and point out that this was a wasted efford. "Shinji is not available," she stated cooly, while holding his hand to underline her connection to him.

Mana looked disappointed. "Really?"

"Sorry...but I'm with Rei. Nothing against you, but I'm no longer available," Shinji told her, hoping that it would get her to stop this and appease Rei, who looked quite irritated.

_Why do the good ones always have to be the ones already taken? _Mana wondered. There was a really good looking boy, and then he already had a girlfriend. But unlike Asuka, she knew very well when to give up a lost cause. "Sorry...I hadn't known..." Looking to both of them, she added, "All right bad start... Can we still try to become friends?"

Shinji really hoped that Rei wouldn't do the same thing she had done with Asuka's offer of becoming friends, because he felt that Mana really meant it. Thankfully, after looking at Mana for several seconds, Rei nodded. As far as her limited sense for these matters allowed her, Rei felt that Mana was sincere, adding to this the fact was, that she had backed off at once from Shinji. "I accept your offer of friendship."

Mana thought that this girl had a little strange speech pattern, but she seemed nice enough. She then turned her attention to Asuka. "Can we be friends, too?" she asked her nicely. She envied Asuka for her good looks, but maybe she was a good person to hang out with?

Asuka felt reserved. Mana really felt threatening to her on a level. She was beautiful, had personality and piloted a huge war machine. All things that alarmed Asuka that this girl could steal her spot in school pretty fast. But on the other hand, if she managed to get her into her circle... "All right!" Asuka told her cheerful, althrough it didn't quite reach her lips.

"Ah-em.." All looked to Major Hanson. "As I wanted to say, Mana here is the pilot for the Trident. She actually is right now the only one able to do the job."

"How was she selected for the job, and why is she the only one capable of doing it? Why won't a schooled soldier do it?" Misato asked, wondering. While she knew roughly why the EVAs needed children to pilot them, she didn't know why a machine needed, too.

"Uhmmm...well actually..." the Major had no idea how to tell them the reason Mana was selected. Thankfully, Mana hadn't so many reservations to tell them the truth.

"They actually let me talk to the AI just for fun, when I was visiting, my father actually oversees the project as Major Hanson's direct superior. And... well, the AI found a liking to me and only wants me to pilot it. And they had no way to wipe it without erasing all of the hard-coded data, which meant half a year of tedious re-programming. So I became the pilot. Not something that will fill history books," she admitted, still feeling a little guilty that she monopolised Trident all for herself.

Asuka's worries lessed a little when she heared that. Becoming a pilot not because of skill but because of an accident, that already made her less dangerous for her.

The Major meanwhile turned his attention back to Misato. "We expect full coorperation from NERV in regards to Mana. We want to have her get the same right to enter the geofront as the pilots have. Can it be done?"

Misato already saw the Commander denying it, but then she remembered that things like that now had to go over the Vice-Commander. So there was a real chance that Mana would get access to the non-critical areas. "I will see what I can do..."

"...you mean that was you last night?"

Seeing what the children were talking about, they heared Mana admit: "Yes. I had to sneeze, and crashed on the street." It was obvious that she wasn't proud of this fact, judging by the rosy tint of her cheeks.

"I bet the men of the street department will love that..." Asuka smart-assed. "On the other hand, I doubt it will bother them much. Compared to the damage each Angel causes, your damage are peanuts."

"What is this vehicle?" Rei asked Mana suddenly, pointing to the wall of the hangar. Standing there was a strange looking, wheeled vehicle shaped a little like a bug. No wonder it had aroused Rei's interest. "It does not fit into any category of army vehicle."

Mana actually laughed. "That's one of Hanson's strange inventions. Better don't accept a joyride in this one."

"Hey! my Gratan(1) is a great invention. It can act as a jet, sub and jeep," the Major protested. "And there is nothing wrong with my driving style!"

"Really? I remember the only time I took a ride with you in it. I threw up all over the dashboard. I don't want to experience that again," Mana reminded him. "And you propably don't want to again replace the fried electronics."

Hanson said nothing, he remembered the incident all too well.

Asuka looked to Misato with a mean smile. "Guess NERV personell really is better. The army needed a special unit to induce retching. Misato just needed her Renault of Horrors for the same effect."

"Har har har...very funny. Just continue to pick on my driving style," Misato said, sulking.

A little later, all of them had fled from the opressive heat, despite it being still pre-noon it was already becoming hotter each minute, into the air-conditioned mess hall. Talking further, even Asuka had to admit that Mana was a nice girl, albeit a littly shy and sometimes too girly. Her being so un-agressive, Asuka now felt that Mana was no threat to her position at school. Rei had given her no further hard looks, but had held Shinji's hand the whole time, even if only to shy away the remnants of a feeling. Misato and Hanson had left them alone for now, needing to do some co-ordination work.

After a while, Mana excused herself, saying that she had too much soda and had to use the girl's room. As soon as the restroom door had closed behind her, talking began again. This time having Mana as the topic.

"She is really nice, and I thank all Gods that she isn't trying any longer to do anything beyond friendly. I really like her," Shinji admitted. "I think we have to introduce her to the others when they are back."

"Working together with her will be easy. And she is a pleasant person," Rei concluded. Speaking with her, as far as it was speaking as she had said far less than Mana, had been enjoyable, since she treated her well enough. Something she had learned to be valueable.

"All right, she's OK, only a little too much sugar sometimes," Asuka commented, before taking a sip from her soda. "Have to introduce her to Hikari, bet she will like her."

"I guess some people simply have a nice personality," Shinji thought aloud, althrough the look he gave Asuka meant, that she could learn something from her.

"Don't look at me like that," Asuka growled. She hated it when Shinji reminded her that she was sometimes a less than pleasant person.

Right then Mana returned. "I just remembered something I wanted to ask you. How is it to control an EVA? And how do you do that? I basically control Trident like a any other craft, althrough the KI frees me from the most mundate stuff."

"First imagine sitting in a narrow tube, breathing a liquid that tastes horrible. Then that most of the control comes through thinking, with only the most basic controls in your actual hands. And finally that you feel the pain of the EVA. That's basically how it is," Shinji explained to her. He knew how important his task was, but that didn't mean he had to like some of the aspects, in this case the LCL, which he still detested with a passion, but Dr. Akagi had told him that they had no way to change the taste.

Mana shuddered when hearing some of the aspects. "Then I'm really glad for my cockpit. It's dry, warm and clearly not claustrophobic. I don't want to exchange places with you...Eh..is that stupid rubber suit I've seen on pictures also part of it?"

"The plugsuits might look uncomfortable, but imagine your clothing soaking with a horribly stinking liquid. We had that honor two days ago, and I for my part are not keen to repeat it anytime soon. We are actually thankful we can wear it, it also keeps that stuff from creeping into every part of our bodies." Asuka had experienced it first hand, drying LCL at the wrong places was very unfomfortable, especially since it itched. Thank all goodness that they had located a bath house in time to wash it off.

Mana grimaced when hearing Asuka's description. "Yuck! I hope I necer get roped into that!"

Right then, Misato and Hanson returned, their business concluded. "All right kids, time for us to go," Misato announced. Saying their good-byes and swapping phone-numbers, Misato left with her charges.

"Well, what do you think of them?" Hanson asked Mana after they had watched them walking to the main gate of the base.

"Thay are nice. Oh, all right I nearly screwed up with trying a move on Rei's boyfriend, but they forgave me that. Rei is a little quiet and odd, but after seeing her curious hair color, I guess she is strange but alright. Shinji is a really cute boy, too bad that he is already taken. And Asuka...I guess she needs time to get used to me," Mana told him. "Too bad that we have autum leave right now."

Hanson knew that Mana really wanted some friends, since being in the Trident project had mostly cut her off from her age group. "Don't worry. I think everything will turn out alright...Well, I need to go to the geofront for business with their Commander, some boring stuff."

Mana watched him walking to the hangar. _I bet he is going to use the Gratan... _Seeing the bug-shaped vehicle speed to the main gate a minute later, she saw that her guess was right. _I really feel sorry for NERV, having to endure his driving skills, or better the lack of them... _Hanson might be a great inventor, but he was a lousy driver.

* * *

_...the next day at NERV..._

"What do you think of this whole thing? I mean, I'm glad for any kind of reinforcements, but it feels like they want to look on our fingers," Misato told Ritsuko while they were both on break.

"Of course they do. The army always mistrusted NERV, and after we humiliated them, they only waited for a chance to get back at us," Ritsuko answered, while smoking a cigarette. "You can predict them easily after a while."

"At least this time it's not a joke like Jet Alone," Misato sighed in relief. That Trident was useful, it had already proven. "You know that habit of yours is disgusting," she added when smelling the tabacco-satuated smoke.

"You say that for years, and exactly as long I've ignored it every time," Ritsuko waved it off. "Oh, I heared that the Commander has something in store for you, but he hadn't said, what, only that he will reveal it in a week."

"-sigh- I guess he wants to reduce my paycheque. I know my luck..."

"Well, that's a coincidence..." Looking up, she saw Ryoji standing there. "Coffee?" he asked, holding a tablet with three cups and a pot with fresh coffee.

"You are a lifesaver..." Misato gladly accepted the offer.

"Guess you two really have put a lot of issues out of the world. Couldn't have seen you being so civil to each other a week ago," Ritsuko commented, while accepting her own cup.

"Don't get me wrong, there is still nothing between us. But I realised that I acted stupid, so we agreed to burry the war axe. We'll see if there comes anything out of it." Misato couldn't help but to feel a deep relief that she had been forced to finally confront the issue. It felt much easier not to force herself to get angry, mostly at herself. "As long as he keeps his act together..."

"Hey, don't worry. I have no desire to again get on your bad side. And it's quite strength consuming to be a macho," Kaji admitted openly. "It's actually interesting that you find my more serious side attractive."

"You find his serious side attractive?" Ritsuko asked, raising an eyebrow. _Who would have thought that her taste in a man's qualities would change so much? Before she mostly looked on outer apperance._

Misato had no desire to let her preferences become a discussion topic. "Yes...And don't ask why, I simply like it that way."

"I won't ask about you love life, as long as you two won't pull a stunt like in college. I doubt the Commander would find it funny if you two disappear for a week to follow...activities." Ritsuko knew exactly what had happened.

"I would prefer if you keep this silent, all right?" Misato cautioned her.

"Yeah, no one needs to know that." Kaji still wondered how Ritsuko had gotten that out during their college time. _Must be deductive reasoning. Scary, what these science-people can do with it..._

Ritsuko smirked. She had speculated that both of them still would try to keep that facet of their past low key. And her reasoning seemed to have been spot-on again. "My mouth stays sealed..."

* * *

_...a week later..._

Standing in front of the door to Commander Ikari's office, Misato again wondered what the Commander could want from her. She had brooded over it all week, but hadn't come to a conclusion. And now he had officially ordered her to come to his office.

_Well, let this get over with... _Steeling herself for whatever was about to happen, Misato opened the door to the office of the Commander. To her surprise, beside the Commander and the Vice-Commander, Ritsuko, Kaji and the bridge officers were also attending, forming a corridor to the Commander's desk. _What is going on here?_

"Captain Katsuragi, step forward," the Commander ordered, staning in front of his desk, which was unusual, since normally he always sat behind it when someone entered the office.

"You ordered my presence, Sir?" Misato asked, walking two arms length in front of him.

"Yes. Captain Katsuragi, you have served NERV well, and therefore..." he took something out of his pocket, "...you will be promoted to Major." That said, he removed the old rank insigna from her collar and fasted the new one on it.

Misato binked. Promoted? That was something new for her. The assembled personell clapped their hands in applause after the new insignia were secure on her collar. "I'm honored, Sir! And I will continue to invest my strength into doing my duty as best as possible!"

"I expect so much. Dismissed!"

Everyone left Gendo alone in his office. _Good, everything is prepared. Tomorrow I and Fuyutsuki will depart for Antartica..._

Meanwhile outside, Ryoji smacked his hand on her shoulder. "Congratulations, Major! Looks like I now have to call you 'Sir', with you being the number three in the chain!"

"Please...It's just a promotion. I still do my job exactly the same," Misato tried to downplay it. "I do my job to destroy the Angels, not for glory."

"Ahh, come on. You also deserve some recognition. Why don't you want us to celebrate it?" Kaji asked.

Seeing that he wouldn't let the issue rest, she decided to make a decision. "All right...I will ask the children what they think. If they agree, we will celebrate, all right?" she offered.

"Speaking of them, where are they?" Dr. Akagi asked Misato.

"They are visiting Mana together with their friends, I'm supposed to drive them back into the city, so I have to go..." she added the last thing when looking on her wristwatch.

* * *

_...15 minutes later, military base..._

"Fantastic...that's simply amazing!" Kensuke said, while filming Trident from every angle possible. This huge battle machine was amazing for him, and he simply had to put it on tape. Major Hanson had nothing against it, since they couldn't hold such a big machine secret in a city like Tokyo-3 anyways.

"Is he always like that?" Mana asked, while watching Kensuke. She had found them all to be all right, and again wondered why the hell all the good looking boys were already taken when looking to Toji, but Kensuke's behaviour was really strange after seeing the Trident. Especially since before he had been rather normal and polite, but not her type.

"No. Only when he sees expensive military hardware. Outside that, he's like everyone else," Toji commented, while watching Kensuke cursing that he had no memory cards left, thus ending his filming spree.

"Dammit... I KNEW I should have taken one with me!" Kensuke cursed, while pocketing his camcorder. "What would I give to be in there! Eh...do you think..?" he tried to ask Mana.

"No. And better don't try to ask Hanson, he would have you thrown out for the mere idea," Mana destroyed his hopes. "So don't even try it. It would be futile."

"The world is so unfair..." Kensuke grumbled. There was the hottest battle machine beside EVA, and he was denied to pilot it. At least he had seen an EVA from the inside. "Well, I can't wait to see you in action."

"Don't even think about it, Kensuke Aida!"

"Now you did it..." Toji whisped to Kensuke, seeing Hikari walking to them. "See you on your furneal..." That said, he took some steps backward, making Kensuke growl a quiet 'traitor!'.

"I still remember very well the last time you sneaked out of the shelter. So forget about it," Hikari told him under no terms. This incident had led her to great embarrassment, so she had no desire to have it repeat itself.

"Hey kids!"

_The rescue comes at the right time! _Kensuke thought, when seeing Misato approach them. Looking at her collar, he noticed something. "Wow!...Miss Katsuragi...or should I call you Major Katsuragi? You got promoted!"

This attracted the others.

"Really, you got promoted?" Shinji asked. He hadn't thought that his old man would actually promote anyone, seeing that the current power structure seemed to be in his favor.

"Yes, I got promoted, not that it is such a big deal," she tried to downplay it. She had went to NERV to help destroy the Angels. That so much fuss was made around her promotion was strange for her. Ok, she was proud that she got so far, but she didn't want to promote it to everyone.

"You know that means we have to celebrate it!" Asuka squealed, seeing a chance to party.

"Oh...all right. Tomorrow then?" _-sigh. I guess I have no choice. And a party with no alcohol at that. _She hoped that her co-workers would at least share some of the costs. Her poor account was already strained as hell, and she doubted that the bank would allow her to go into debt again.

* * *

_...at night..._

_"This is strange..." Rei wondered aloud, when she found herself in total darkness, yet she could perfectly see herself. She felt uncomfortable when she realised that she was naked. How did she end up here, in this state? Looking around, she couldn't see anything at all, only darkness._

_**I see you... **__a voice said coldly from the darkness, its gender uncertain._

_"Who is there?" Rei called into the darkness._

_**I hate you... **__the voice said with venom._

_"Show yourself." Rei demanded. Despite her usually being calm and collected, this voice scared her to the core. And her fear only grew, when she saw seven huge eyes appear in the darkness, surrounding her, looking at her with pure, total hatred._

_**Bastard child of mine. I will destroy you first, **__the voice threatened, now clearly female._

_Rei felt, as if slowly her air supply was cut off. "Who...?"_

_**Don't pretend you don't know... And once I'm strong enough... **__The seven horrifying eyes closed in on her, each one burning with the fire of cold hatred. Rei wanted to scream in pain when she felt her skin start to burn as if sprayed with acid, but she realised in horror that her mouth had disappeared, only smooth skin in its place. "M-m-mmmmpppphhhfff!"_

_**Enjoy your time, because you haven't much left of it.**_

_The eyes crushed her, while she went up into flames, he silent screams unheared..._

"Aaaah!" in a panic, Rei fell out of her bed, on the floor of her bedroom. Heart beating franatically, Rei looked around, still half in a panic. She was in her room. She checked herself. She wore panties and a bra, was sweat-soaked and definitely had a mouth. It had been all a nightmare.

Trying to calm down, she remembered where she had already seen the seven eyes before. A being that was so secret, only few knew of her, she was one of them. Only why should she dream of her?

"Lilith..." Rei whispered the name of that infernal being.

_**to be continued...**_

(1) Hanson and the Gratan are of course from another Gainax production. In this case: "Nadia".

_**Next Episode:**_

_**"Sahaquiel"**_


	15. Sahaquiel

I will say these things in advance: I have absolutely no rights at NGE, but you should have already known that.

The story itself is basically a re-telling of the original storyline, but twisted into my way. While at the beginning there seem to be only few divigances, it will become more with each episode. The people, their motivations and the backgrounds are while holding true to the basic layout, changed at my imagination in many details, so canon-purists now are allowed to flame me.

NOTE: I hate both, the ending of the TV series, and how End of Evangelion turned out. So don't expect any of those outcomes.

This is Shinji/Rei. So here it is, the battle against the tenth Angel. I think this time you actually will feel sorry for the Angel.

For all the work I put into this, I would like to get reviews. I will always try to respond to every review I get.

* * *

**Chapter 14: Sahaquiel**

_...Antarctica, 15 years ago..._

"It is out of control!"

"Run for your lives!"

"Aaahhhhhh!"

Destruction waged the icy continent of Antartica. A huge giant of light was screaming like a berseker as if in horrible pain, trashing blindly around while sending off waves of energy that smashed away everything in their way. The expedition station was already destroyed.

Professor Katsuragi felt that his wounds were mortal. He had no idea what had went wrong, but now they payed dearly for it. But at least he wanted to save his daughter from the same fate. Carrying her to the escape capsule with his last strength, he put her into it, losing his cross pendant while doing so.

The frightend Misato, still in pain from the wound over her stomach, looked at him. "Daddy...?"

"Misato...I have been a bad father to you...please forgive me..." Misato saw him crying. Unlike the other times, where she had laughed over his tears, this time it seemed so full of regret, that she propably would never forget it. Then the door of the capsule closed, and he collapsed on it. Looking to the wildly trashing giant, he saw the final act of the drama. "What have we done...?"

**"AAHHHHHHHRRRGGGGHHHHHH!"** the giant screamed in horrible pain, then a massive explosion blew him apart with so much force, that it annihilated the continent and all life on it.

The capsule, thrown far outside of the danger zone, swam in the sea. It opened, and Misato looked outside, only to see a rain of fire going down, the sky blood red, while the echos of the screams were still present. Horrified, Misato looked at her father's cross pendant. She had hated him for never being there for her, and now he had died to save her.

Looking at the armageddon at the horizon, she had no idea what to think now of him, while the horror she saw burned itself into her memory.

* * *

_...the present..._

Feeling over the old scar, Misato looked at the cross pendant. She had never forgotten that day and the picture of the Angel running amok. In these days, she remembered the past more clearly, with the Angels back and herself confronting the fact, that she finally should let the memory of her father rest in peace. Despite what she had thought about him, he at least deserved the rest.

But the Angels...the Angels would pay.

Since that day when the giant of light changed her life forever, while destroying countless others, she wanted nothing more than to destroy all of them. This wish had helped her through the time directly after Second Impact, and essentially had directed many of her decisions that had finally made her operations director at NERV.

Question only was why now, that a number of Angels had been destroyed already, she did feel so empty. Shouldn't she feel fulfillment for this?

_Get a grip, you need to go to work in less then half a hour, and you have a party in your honor at the evening. So finally get dressed..._

Later at NERV, the usual synch-tests were held. Misato watched the gauges with interest. "Well, that is a surprise..." She had followed the synch-ratios of all pilots for some time now, and she saw a trend forming by now.

"You see it too?" Ritsuko asked Misato. She had done the same, and also came to the same conclusions.

Misato nodded. "Yep. I think we should tell them when they are done."

Some minutes later, the test was done, and the pilots gathered in the control room. Ritsuko announced the results. "First, Rei. You have done well, you not only managed to stay over 60, a feat considering that this was the end of the line for years, but also improved to 62,5. Continue like this."

"Understood, I will do my best," Rei acknowledged. Realising that her now more fulfilled life was rising her synch-ratio was a nice side-effect. One she found good. And she actually felt something she couldn't describe. She didn't know that it was pride at her accomplishment.

Ritsuko now looked to Asuka. "Not much change. You pretty much hold your level stable at 75."

"And that again proves that I'm the best there is," Asuka stated arrogantly. She had trained years and this position was the logical result. No way a upstart like Shinji would manage to get better than her!

"Don't be so sure of being on the throne for all time," Ritsuko dampened her happiness at being the first. She found it was time to finally tell Asuka that she wasn't the queen. "Shinji has become a lot better, his ratio has risen to 66, which is an enormous feat. I wonder how he does it?"

"I'm always thinking at how important my job is, and that I have to do my best. I guess that helps..." Shinji shugged. He never made much of the ratios, apart of their use for fighting better. He wasn't gunning for the highscore or something like that.

"You are only a wannabe. I will show you that I'm the number one. And it will stay that way," Asuka told him, making it clear that she intended to hold her promise. "I haven't trained for years, only to let a rookie overround me."

"Yeah, whatever. Only remember that we are not in a competition," Shinji waved it off, before leaving for the locker room. He didn't see the dirty look Asuka gave him., a promise that she would prove him wrong on that.

_I won't be defeated by a upstart! I will show you who the boss is! _He anger ignited, she said no more while making her way to the locker room.

Rei wondered why Asuka saw herself in a competition. She didn't see the point in it, since one alone simply couldn't defeat an Angel by now, as they had become much more dangerous. But then she also remembered to ask Shinji about some things she had wondered about for some time. She had forgotten them until now, but now she would ask him sometime today. Hopefully it would also help her to forget the horrible dream she had last night.

* * *

_...at the evening, Misato's apartment..._

_That must have been one of the most arkwand things I ever had to do... _Shinji shuddered, while waiting for the other to arrive for the celebration for Misato's promotion. When they had been done with the prepertations, Rei had asked him for his help explaining something.

How could he have known that she still remembered Misato's little joke from some days ago, concerning Asuka's sexual orientation, and had asked him for the meaning? How should he explain homosexuality to a girl that some months ago still had all her emotions crippled? He must have become beet-red when trying to explain it, stumbling over his words. Somehow he must have managed to explain it statisfactionally enough for Rei, but he really hoped that he wouldn't have to do something like that in the near future.

Rei meanwhile was sitting at the kitchen table, thinking over what Shinji had told her. Even she had seen that it had caused him visisble distress to explain the matter to her. At least he gave her an explanation. Still, the idea that two persons of the same gender could feel like that for each other was alien for her. She thought that reproduction played a big role in love. But then she clearly felt longing for Shinji and yet was incapable of reproduction.

_Why is human emotion so complicated? _she wondered. The more she tried to apply logic to it, the more questions it created. Simply letting them come to her and fill her being seemed to be the best way to deal with them.

Finally the others arrived.

Kaji was the last to arrive. "Ritsuko says sorry, but she can't make it, something important that can't wait," he told her when she noticed that Ritsuko wasn't there. "But she told me to give you some news."

"Oh really, what is it?" Misato asked, curios.

"Commander Ikari and the Vice-Commander are both away, meaning that you have command for the time being," Kaji told her.

"My old man is away? Again? Where is he this time?" Shinji asked. In the last time, Misato had told him that his father was often away. Not that he cared, but it seemed a little strange for a man who was supposed to command the geofront.

"The South Pole. A place where I wouldn't want to be at all costs..." Ryoji then looked over the table. "What? No alcohol?" he asked when seeing that all drinks were only juice and soda.

"Ryoji, please look around... Shinji, Asuka, Rei, Mana, Hikari, Kensuke and Toji...all minors. And I'm dry now, so don't expect any alcohol," Misato corrected him.

Kaji said something in the lines that real alcohol always spiced up a party, while Shinji was thinking. _So my so-called father went to a literal death zone? Misato's description of it was quite bleak. I can always hope that he dies there._

So they started to celebrate.

To everyone's surprise, Asuka and Toji didn't errupt into throwing barbs at each other, but that was because both were simply in a too good mood for this, much to Hikari's relief, who again had feared a scene.

Rei was surprised at the taste of what was called pizza. (Of course she had a veggie pizza) She had never eaten something like that before, and she actually was surprised when the box was empty in no time, and her stomach full. Mana told her when seeing that, that she better should watch out if she wanted to hold her weight. Not understanding, she asked her what she meant with that.

Mana wondered how a girl couldn't care about her weight, before trying to describe it to her.

Kensuke, now that he was not in the company of war material, was actually studying Mana. He found her to be quite a looker. Sadly he wouldn't have any chance with her, as she had told him herself after a first, small advance on her. But that didn't mean that he couldn't check her out.

Kaji for his part felt that it was still refreshing that Misato wasn't any longer snapping at him each second. And leaving the macho and smart-ass behind felt freeing for him. It had never before felt so good to be himself.

After half a hour, Misato excused herself for a moment, and went on the balcony. Shinji listened to the others. Asuka was just telling Hikari what a cool guy Kaji is, while Kensuke and Toji had a discussion with Kaji about NERV. And he saw Mana being busy with telling Rei several ways how to hold her weight.

Shinji followed Misato on the balcony and closed the door behind himself. "You don't like open praise, do you? I thought you would be happy that someone saw your good work?"

"It's not that...I do enjoy it. And I am happy that I recieve the respect for my work. But it also reminds me of the true reasons I went to NERV." Leaning on the railing, she looked over the city at the setting sun.

Shinji leaned on the railing beside her. He said nothing, waiting for Misato to go on.

"It started with my father. He lived for his work, had no time for us. I think he even ignored us. I think I never forgave him that. I actually hated him for it," Misato went on.

"This somehow reminds me of my own father. He is exactly the same," Shinji admitted.

Misato thought about it. "After all what I have heared and seen, I can't deny that. But back to my story... His friends said that he was too sensible and that a family life simply would burden him too much emotionally, but I thought he simply was weak. It was easier for him to ignore us. When my mother divorced him, I was relieved, and when he cried over it, I laughed at his tears because I felt he deserved it."

"That's really messed up..."

Misato shook her head. "The worst still comes. He actually saved me during Second Impact...and his last words... They were true regret, something I hadn't heared from him ever before. He actually died for me. And I had no idea what to think of him then, a part of my still hated him, while another part realised that he truly wanted to redeem himself. But I knew one thing...I wanted to avenge him...to pay back the Angels for all the suffering they caused. So I went to NERV, to help to destroy them all."

Shinji had listened to Misato story, and now looked to her. "So you want the Angels dead for revenge?"

"That's basically it. I know it is a weak reason. And maybe I'm as weak as my father, but I won't rest until they are all destroyed," Misato admitted. "I'm sorry if I burdened you with my past...but it felt good to talk with someone about it after so much time. Thank you for listening. But please don't tell anyone..."

"Don't worry. It's not my story to tell," Shinji agreed. He then saw Misato leaving, when seeing Asuka starting to list off to Hikari all the good qualities that make Kaji a good example of manliness, while said Kaji look very uncomfortable. Misato thankfully went to his rescue.

He wasn't alone for long, when Kensuke joined him. "Man Shinji, that's a great party! And Mana is really sugar... Too bad she doesn't see me that way."

"Well, It's not that we can have everything. Otherwise you would be now piloting an EVA, saving the world," Shinji reminded him. "Please don't tell me that you plan to sell pictures of her at school as you do with Asuka."

"Don't worry, I don't plan to. With Asuka I do it because I, and many others, don't like her... By the way, tell her that she has to pay for the glasses she has broken when hitting me," Kensuke reminded him. The beating she had given him was something he wouldn't forget anytime soon. And this just for one picture! Thankfully he already had copied it, but he wasn't stupid enough to openly sell it right now. He had no death wish.

"I doubt you will see even a single Yen from her, but I will convey it to her. That reminds me...what did happen to the picture that caused this?" Shinji asked him.

"Weellll...the copy is now in my private collection, and it is not buyable. That one, I will keep for myself..." Kensuke snickered when imagining how mad Asuka would be if knowing this, but then again she would beat him to a pulp for it, so he stopped laughing. Looking to the balacony doors, he saw something very interesting. "Look, isn't that cute?"

Shinji wondered what he meant, until he saw Hikari and Toji holding hands without obviously being aware of it. "It is as if they already got used to being around each other. It reminds me a little of me and Rei."

"Too bad that I haven't my camera with me," Kensuke lamented. While Toji was his friend, a little teasing was always there. And posting a picture of him and the Class-Rep holding hands would be quite a nice prank without really hurting them. "A kingdom for a camera..."

* * *

_...deep space..._

A glowing portal opened in the blackness of space, and a huge form moved out of it. The glow faded away, leaving the huge being known as Sahaquiel in the darkness, barely illuminated by the distant sun. He looked around, before feeling where the planet was, from where the help cry came.

_**My destiny awaits me... **_he thought.

Then he willed his huge mass to move towards the planet at high speed. He would take some time to reach the planet, but he wasn't in a haste. His time would come, sooner or later. And nothing would stop him from doing what he had to do.

* * *

_...five days later, former Antarctica..._

The UN pacific fleet was on its way back towards more friendly waters. The surroundings were horrible. Where once Antartica had been, now was a blood red sea that looked very unhealthy. And even the low temperatures had problems to form ice with that water, there were only groups of thin icy peaks pointing out of the water, while the sky was constantly overhung with a sickly green glow. This was what Second Impact had done.

On the 'Over the Rainbow', two men looked over this wasteland, ignoring the large object secured on the flight deck. All of the fleet had to be specifically prepared to survive in this part of the world, where all life perished.

"Here was once Antartica. Now it is only a grave... The Hell, that would be a fitting name now," Fuyutsuki surmised, while looking over the place that had been once the continent of everlasting ice. He remembered the icy beauty it had been, now there was nothing left of it. "Nothing can live here now."

"And yet we can be here without taking damage, because science protects us. With it, we can achive everything we want," Gendo added. He had actually no fear of this. He actually feared only little now, with nothing left to lose.

Fuyutsuki could only shake his head at so much overconfidence. "You forget that it was this arrogance that resulted in Second Impact. Look at what it brought us, humanity didn't deserve such a cruel punishment. This is truely the Dead Sea..."

"But it is a clean world. All the human sins washed off." Gendo really felt that if he couldn't have happiness, then no one else deserved it, until he would regain what he had lost. And over the years, it had made him a real anti-philantropist.

_Only someone whose positive emotions have died can say something like this. Gendo, what have you done to yourself? _Kozo Fuyutsuki hoped that what he saw right now wouldn't be the future of the entire world. "I prefer a world populated with humans, regardless how sinful it is... I will be happy once we leave this depressing place, now that we have what we want."

"I know very well that you don't really like my plans, professor. But you know that there are no good alternatives." Gendo then looked down to the flight deck. "The old men will be pleased that we found the lance."

_No alternatives? How about leaving the world in peace? But then SEELE will have free hand...In what have I brought myself into? I'm getting to old for this... At least the lance will be in our posession. One worry less. _"I wonder what they want with it. Without Adam, there is no way to start instrumentality."

"There are more than only one way. I do know it. The old men do, too. Who knows what they plan now," Gendo answered cooly.

Right then, the intercom buzzed. _"This is the bridge. We are recieving a message from NERV. They report that an Angel has been spotted in Earth orbit over the Indian Ocean."_

"The Angels surely are persistant..." Fuyutsuki observed, while they made their way to the bridge to get a better status report. Even if it meant having to deal with the Admiral, who clearly had something against NERV and 'being shanghaied into doing their bidding all the time'.

* * *

_...Tokyo-3..._

"It only appeared two minutes ago on our screens. Our satellite will send a picture in three..two..one.." Lt. Hyuga announced, while all of the staff was on high alert. They hadn't expect an Angel coming from space, after all. It came as a total surprise. Finally they recieved a picture, and everyone gasped at the horror they saw.

"That's... a very big Angel..." Lt. Aoba gasped.

"The biggest yet..." Lt. Hyuga added, when seeing the picture.

The Angel truely had a bizarre apperance. Its main body looked like a giant eye, with arms extending to both sides, ending each in another eye of half the size. Each of them had three more, short arms. And the Angel was huge!

"I can't believe I'm taking this so calmly..." Misato mumbled, while looking at the bizarre creature on the screen.

Looking over his screens, Lt. Hyuga paled when seeing the data. "Major, this Angel is_ massive_! The central body alone is over 60 meters in diameter! The whole span is 400 meters, making its mass..."

"I get the picture. But we need to get out how it wants to attack us," Misato interrupted him.

"Our satellites will start a detailled scan in some seconds," Lt. Aoba announced.

In orbit however, the Angel Sahaquiel had other plans. _**No... You can't interfere in what I have to do... **_Deciding that he shouldn't allow the Lilim to spy on him, he activated his AT-field.

**-ccrrraaacc-**

Both satellites were crushed to dust by the enormous strength of the field. "Was that an AT-field?" Misato asked Ritsuko, when seeing the picture on the screen go to static.

"Yes. And the Angel uses it as a offensive weapon. The few numbers we got indicate that the field is huge." Ritsuko was also baffed at the capabilities of that Angel. That thing was like a living nightmare flying above their heads.

Sahaquiel saw that all the listening devices of the Lilim were now destroyed. _**Nobody should stop me from doing what I have to do... I must do it.**_

Sahaquiel had actually been once the most joyful of them, a really pleasant guy. But all his brothers and sisters told him that he was unstable and his sense of honor and his will for sacrifice was troubling. And when their all-father Adam was hurt by the Lilim, it pushed him into the deepest depression. None of the others were able to cheer him up. And with each of their deaths, his depression grew, until he became suicidial.

_**I'm nothing. I'm unimportant...and I can't save father myself. But I will make the biggest sacrifice of all, so the the one after me will free him from the remains of his prison... **_he thought, while moving slowly into the right position.

He wasn't made for combat, nor for existing on a planet, so he would use the one thing he had as a weapon: himself. He knew he wouldn't survive it, and would never again see his father. But he accepted that as a needed sacrifice. It was the only honorable thing to do. He would destroy everything in the Lilim's dwelling, while his father would be safe, as deep underground as he was.

_**Soon... I have to find the right place. Then I will fulfill my destiny. **_His chronic depression had erased every self-worth, leaving behind only self-destructive thoughts circling around making a sacrifice. _**My memory will be held up in honor...**_

Finally in the right position, he released a small part of his mass, to find the right orbit for his attack run. The fragment shot down to Earth, a fire trail following it.

Sahaquiel watched it hitting the ocean. _**Missed...but I won't need long... **_Correcting his orbit, he prepared for the next try.

* * *

_...half a hour later..._

"The first fragment caused a tsunami wave. It was protected by an AT-field against burning up in the atmosphere. This whole Angel is a huge, living bomb," Lt. Ibuki concluded when seeing the pictures. Right now Misato, Ritsuko and the bridge staff were in the tactics room to analyse what they knew about the Angel.

"We were lucky that the first fragment only hit the ocean. The two following came closer to the mainland, but when it hit with the next one, the Angel suddenly stopped," Ritsuko added, showing the picture of a huge crater near the coast. "This destruction alone is immense."

"The UN tried to destroy it with a swarm of N2 mines...no effect. The strength of the AT-field must be enormous," Lt. Hyuga reported, the screen showing a picture of the Angel in the midst of the detonations.

"The Angel in return destroyed all our satellites on its current orbit, we can only track it from the ground now," Lt. Aoba reported. "If we survive this, we will need a month to get new satellites online."

"We don't need to track it. I know exactly where the Angel will come to..." Misato realised darkly. "It will make a kamikaze run on us."

"Considering its enormous mass and the size of its AT-field, it will destroy almost half of Honshu if it hits with enough velocity. One way or another, there will be nothing left if that happens," Ritsuko reminded Misato of the horrible consequences if that was true.

"What does Commander Ikari say to this?" Misato asked Lt. Aoba.

"The Angel is disrupting communications as well. We can't reach him."

"The MAGI all propose evacuation," Lt. Ibuki added.

Ritsuko looked to Misato. She hoped that the stress of this situation wouldn't break her. Now, that they were dependent on her. "You are in command. What is you decision?" she asked her.

Misato thought about it for a while before coming to a decision. She might hate the Angels with a passion, but she wouldn't endanger innocents in it. "Contact the government. NERV orders evacuation plan B-17 for all people Tokyo-3 and the surrounding 50 kilometers! All personell not needed for intercepting the Angel is to be evacuated. And make a backup copy of the MAGI."

"We give up the geofront?" Lt. Hyuga asked, astounded that something like that was now needed.

"No...but I don't want anyone get cought in the crossfire, because this will get ugly... We need the MAGI to get out how to defeat that thing without turning Honshu into a wasteland. Regardless how remote this possibility is."

* * *

_...four hours later..._

Surprisingly the evacuation had went through without many problems. Tokyo-3 and the surrounding area were now empty, apart from the army securing the area and guarding the hangar base. And in the geofront, only three dozend people were left for the task at hand. All buildings were retracted into the geofront and the whole city on full fortress mode. Now it was deathly quiet...

...everywhere but the woman's lavatory, where Ritsuko was busy with voicing her misgivings to Misato's plan.

"Your plan is simply insane! You want to risk all three EVAs just to statisfy your obsession of defeating the Angels? The plan only has a chance of 0,01 percent," she loudly complained while Misato was washing her hands.

"This is not about me," Misato shot back.

"Could have fooled me. You are only out for revenge against them." Ritsuko crossed her arms, looking hard to Misato.

Misato should have expected this opposition, since the plan really was insane, but they had no other choice. "Ok...then do it this way... If we don't do anything, we are all dead. If we try to flee, we will be all dead, too. The MAGI say its the only plan even having a remote chance of succeeding... And if you are so set against it: do you have any better idea? I'm all ears!"

Dr. Akagi grinded her teeth together when she realised that Misato had cornered her. "No..." she reluctantly admitted. _Great, I just had to reveal that I reacted emotionally and have no practical reason to go against it._

"Then stop complaining. Either it works, or we all will die anyway in all other cases," Misato said, before leaving. She would have to talk with the pilots to explain to them what they had to do. The three children were already suited up and waiting for some time now. Hopefully they would understand her new tactic.

Of course the reaction was predictable...

"WAS? Catching the Angel? WITH OUR HANDS?" Asuka yelled unbelieving. She really thought that Misato was joking when explaining her plan to them. They were told how big the Angel was, and they were supposed to catch it with their EVA's hands? _Now she really went bonkers..._

"Exactly. If you manage to stop the Angel with your EVA's own AT-fields, you can essentially stop its momentum and kill it, so that it won't cause damage," Misato explained again. She had expected this outburst.

"And if we don't catch it?" Shinji asked. He had a very bad feeling with all this. But what other choice was there? The Angel basically forced its rules on them. It had the advantage. But he also thought that Misato was crazy. He only didn't made it vocal like Asuka did.

"Then we will all die."

"And if our fields aren't enough to hold the Angel?" Asuka asked, feeling something cold in the pit of her stomach..

"Then we will also all die."

"What are the chances of success?" Rei asked. She actually knew, should this Angel hit its target, she would die for real, as the clones would be all destroyed as well. It was a thought that actually instilled a cold feeling inside her... it was fear. Fear to die a final, real death. _This is fearing death?... It feels very unpleasant._

"0,01 percent."

"If that works, it will be a wonder..." Asuka finally said. The idea alone was totally crazy in her eyes. "This plan is a one-way ticket to beyond!" She felt conered. If she did nothing, she would die. Doing something, and she could die as well. She felt sick, but hid it behind her angry front.

"I can't force you to do it... So if you feel that you can't do it, say so now..."Misato waited for their reply, but none came. "I guess then you will all do it."

"What exactly I'm supposed to do, if you wanted me to be here?" Mana asked.

Up to now she had stayed silent, watching the exchange between the EVA pilots and Major Katsuragi. She was wearing her piloting uniform, a dark green bodysuit that looked much like the ones used by military jet pilots. She felt really cold when realising that there was a good chance for her to die on this day. And why did Misato insist on having her there? The plan involved AT-fields, and Trident was incapable of creating one.

Misato turned to the pilot of Trident. "The Angel is jamming most of our ways to observe it. But we need good calculations where it will propably go down. Trident is outfitted with a sensor array, right?"

"Yes, why do you ask?" Mana replied.

"We need you to fly as high as possible and try to determine where the Angel propably will go down. I already cleared this with Major Hanson. Transmit the data directly to the MAGI. Hopefully this will make it easier to intercept the Angel," Misato explained to her.

"So you need me for reconnisance," Mana concluded. She actually felt bad. She would be high enough then to escape death in the worst case, while everyone else would still die. _Don't think of this...they won't die! We will win! _she scolded herself.

"Yes. Better go now, we need the data soon."

"All right." Mana left to get to Trident, who was parked at the entrance to the geofront right now, so that she could get the readings as fast as possible.

Misato then looked to the pilots. "I wish I wouldn't have to do this, but regulations say that I have to ask you, if you want to make a last will."

Asuka looked offended at the mere idea. "No chance! Because I don't plan to die!"

Shinji looked to Rei. "I'm too young to die. And it wouldn't make a difference. When the Angels win, no one will survive anyway." _At least I won't get chewed out should I blow it, 'cause there will be no one left to complain then..._

Rei knew what a last will was, but she had no idea what she actually should write into one. And the mere idea of dying was making her feel cold, so she tried to push it away. "I have no use for it."

Misato couldn't help but to see through their masks. They were all horribly scared of dying. "All right...then come. Let's see what Mana will find out... But, hey, when this is over, I will invite all of you to lots of ice-cream!"

"She hopes to bribe us with ice-cream?" Asuka wondered. "This Second Impact generation is really weird."

Shinji also found this offer weird, but unlike Asuka, he simply accepted it. "See it this way, at least we will save our allowance this way... And I guess it's better than nothing, considering that Misato is broke most of the time."

"I heared that!" Misato called from over her shoulder.

Shinji decided that silence was the better side of virtue. Looking to Rei, he saw her moistening her lips with her tongue. He could guess what she was thinking right now. He had her hooked on ice-cream, she really liked it. And thinking of it seemed easier for her than thinking of the possibility that she could die.

* * *

_...T -1 hour..._

"That's the best I can do. Sorry, but the interference from the Angel is simply too big," Mana reported over the com directly to the bridge "This is the area where the Angel possibly will impact, based on all what I got." On the big screen, a red area appeared, filling Tokyo-3 and most of its surroundings.

Asuka 's hopes sank quite a bit when seeing that. "That's a huge area! How the hell are we supposed to cover it?"

"Wouldn't the Angel aim for the headquarter?" Shinji asked Dr. Akagi, who looked at the data with interest.

"A force that can destroy half of Honshu won't care if it misses by some kilometers. Its AT-field is so big, that the Angel can allow itself to be inaccurate," she dampend his hopes. She still felt that this plan was totally insane, but since she had no alternative, she kept that to herself.

"All right, Mana. Stay in the air and try to follow its movements. Report when it starts to descend," Misato told Mana. Good thing that Hanson saw the benefits to temporary transfer command over Trident to Misato until this crisis was over. Normally he would be on the bridge to command her himself, but he had enough to do to secure the city against possible looters, who would use the situation for a quick buck. But he had made it clear to her not to get used to it.

"All right, I will continue to observe it. Over and out." Mana cut the connection, her picture vanishing from the small window under the map.

Misato then entered some commands and three overlapping circles appeared on the map. "You will get into position at these points. That way, all three of you can be at the site of impact as soon as possible."

"What are these positions based on?" Rei asked, seeing no real mathematical concept behind it.

"A guess. Call it female intuition."

Asuka felt like groaning. What had she gotten herself into? "Female intuition? Our wonder seems to get more impossible by the minute."

"A gamble. Reminds me of when Misato tried to win at a pachinko game, only that she lost 30.000 Yen in the process..." Shinji groaned. His male intuition told him very clearly the amount of luck they would need had just tripled.

Minutes later they were in the elevator on the way to the cage.

"You know, Rei, maybe we won't survive. I want to think poitive, but it seems so looming over us. I'm scared that we could die for real this time," Shinji admitted to her. Even when fighting against the fifth Angel, he had never felt so much in danger. But that was natural, when the Angel in question could destroy half of Japan in a matter of seconds.

"It is natural to fear death... I also fear it this time," Rei replied. The idea alone that she could fear death, was new to her. But the possibility that all of her were destroyed had left her feeling as if she had swallowed ice cubes. "It is unpleasant to feel this fear."

Shinji looked Rei into the eyes. "If we shouldn't see each other again... you will at least remember me like this..."

That said, Shinji embraced Rei holding her close, while gently starting to kiss her. Rei returned both, feeling her fear lessening with this gestue of closeness, the coldness being swept away by the warmth burning within her. Both of them held tight on each other, while they explored each other's mouth, eyes closed while they enjoyed this tender moment. Thanks to how skin-tight the plugsuits were, they felt as if they were melting together, feeling each other's heart beat.

Asuka watched this display of a deep affection from the other side of the elevator. _Disgusting...simply disgusting. These two start to make me sick... _What didn't want to admit to herself was, that watching these two bonding reminded her of how lonely she really was. And this was something she didn't want to remember, because it brought up unpleasant memories that threatened to make her do things she never wanted to do again.

No, she had sworn, she would never again cry in her entire life. And she would hold on that. It was far easier to flee into disgust, anger and despise.

Meanwhile in Earth orbit, Sahaquiel was making the last corrections.

_**This is it...my way to fulfill my duty, my destiny... **_Starting the last slow orbit around Earth, he was prepared to smash into his target on the next run, sacrificing himself for the greater good.

_**Father, you will be proud of my memory.**_

* * *

_...T -2 minutes..._

All three EVAs were on position, waiting for the Angel to attack. Everyone was tense, there was something in the air. Asuka tried to collect her hatred against the Angel ruining her day, Rei tried to find her inner center, while Shinji simply wanted to see the next day. They were disrupted, when Mana called them.

_"I have the Angel on my scopes. Its starting to come down. 25.000 meters above ground,"_ she said over the com, all the data transfered to a sceen on the display.

"Get ready!" Misato called, looking at the picture of the entering the atmosphere. "We can direct you as close as 5.000 meters, but after that you are on your own. Good luck! I know you can do it!"

_"Its closing in. Now only 20.000 meters!" _Mana called, reminding them that it was about time.

"Then... GO!" Misato called.

The power plugs were ejected from all three EVAs, all three relying on their internal batteries that were more than enough for the short time the mission hopefully would last. All three started to run at once towards the calculated point where the Angel would hit, jumping over houses and power lines, making deep impressions in roads. With mighty jumps they cleared the hills surrounding Tokyo-3.

_"12.000 meters!"_

The Angel was breaking through the clouds, accelerating towards the ground. Sahaquiel already saw his goal. _**For great honor!**_

Right then Shinji in Unit-01 managed to reach the exact spot, a small hill outside of Tokyo-3, first. Unit-01 came to a sudden halt on the hill. "Activating AT-field!" Shinji shouted, and the field swept away everything in the surroundings.

The EVA held up its hands to intercept the Angel. It slammed into the field, and was denied to descend further.

Sahaquiel was shocked. The construct of the Lilim was denying him his sacrifice? _**No! I can't allow this! **_He put more force into his field, trying to accelerate downards even more, trying to overpower the field.

Shinji almost broke under the immense pressure. The field of the Angel was immense and seemed to cover the entire sky. He felt that he couldn't do this for long, the Angel was immensely powerful, it felt as if being trapped in a trash compactor.

"I need help! FAST!"

"I'm here!" Asuka shouted, running up the hill, activating her own fiel to assist Shinji. Together the finally managed to again push the Angel upwards, but this only seemed to make it even more determined to overpower them.

_**You can't! YOU CAN'T STOP IT NOW! **_Sahaquiel put all his power into his field. He had to be successful, or he would die in shame!

Both, Asuka and Shinji felt as if the strength was slowly drained out of them, when the field grew even stronger, threatening to crush them. "REI!" Shinji screamed.

"I'm here!" Running towards them, Unit-00 slammed her hands into the field, prog knife in one hand. It felt as if she was hit with much power, Rei felt like a rugby team was beating her up. The clashing AT-fields created a storm, lighting clashed in the sky, while the surroundings were illuminated in a sick dark violet.

Then Rei saw it, the core of the Angel. It was in the exact center of the big eye, directly in front of her. Using all her strength, she teared open a hole in the field exactly in front of the core.

_**NO! **_Sahaquiel realised what she was about to do. _**You can't do this!**_

With a anger she hadn't thought she could gather, Rei slammed the knife with full power into the core. Sparks flew all over the place. Finally the core started to break down.

Sahaquiel knew that this meant he had failed. _**Noooo! My sacrifice was worthless! I will now die in shame! I failed... I brought shame over me...shame...**_

Then his core broke, and all his momentum gathered by his field was gone. The dying Sahaquiel fell over all three EVAs like a blanket, before ballooning up. Then he blew up in a massive explosion.

**-BBBRRRROOOOOOOOOUUUUMMMMMMM-**

"Oh shit!" Mana cursed, when seeing the mushroom cloud at the city limits.

Flying towards the explosion center, the looked at the crater it had created. She saw all three units at its ground, looking all right. "Shinji? Rei? Asuka? Are you all right?" she asked, concerned. While there was immense relief that the Angel had been destroyed, she hoped that the pilots had come out of it alive.

She was answered with coughing. "As far as I think...yes. But I feel like a used doormat..." came the weak reply from Shinji.

"Doormat? I feel like sleeping for a year..." Asuka added, also sounding tired.

There was at first only static coming from Rei, but then they heared her muttering "I am exhausted..."

Mana let out the breath she had held in. These three were all right. Landing beside them at the bottom of the crater, she hoped that she could help to get them out of the partially ejected entry plugs.

* * *

_...later that day..._

Tokyo-3 was again in chaos, now with all its inhabitants returning to the city, after the emergency had ended. But Shinji had no eyes for it. Looking over Tokyo-3 at sunset, he had to think about what had happened that day. They had won, yes... But it was close. Too close. The Angel had almost overpowered them, and they had used the luck of ten years to beat it.

Shinji came to one conclusion, and it was one he didn't like at all. He had no desire to put even more people of his age at risk in this war. He actually hated that thought. But today was a harsh reminded that they, while being each a very good pilot, were simply not powerful enough should the next Angel be even stronger.

_But what can I actually do? I do not think they would even listen to me..._

Hearing Asuka telling Misato that she better hold true to her promise, he guessed that tomorrow they would enjoy some of the best ice cream, and reall endanger her account.

* * *

_...three days later..._

"Ah, young Ikari. Please come in and sit down. I was told that there is a matter you have to speak with me about?" Fuyutsuki greeted Shinji warmly, when the young pilot entered his office. It was his first day back in Tokyo-3, and he wondered what the pilot of Unit-01 could want.

"Yes, Vice-Commander. I'm sure you have seen the battle recordings of the fight against the last Angel?" Shinji asked the old man, while sitting down on one of the chairs. _A really useless idea, but at least no one can accuse me of not trying..._

"Yes, I have. I was very impressed by the performance of you and your fellow pilots against this threat. You surpassed my expectations. Well done." Actually he was more than impressed. That they had managed to beat this massive Angel almost looked like a wonder. It proved to him that his faith in the pilots was deserved.

"Thanks...but the truth is, a second longer, and the Angel would have overpowered us. It had been very close...too close," Shinji admitted. All three of them had been totally exhausted after the battle, their strength gone. "And this is why I am here."

Now the Vice-Commander looked concerned. They had almost lost the battle?

"If I understand right, Sir, there are two more Evangelions in the States in ready condition?" Shinji asked, remembering what he had heared from Misato. It was a long shot, but he thought that it at least was worth the try. At worst, he would be dismissed.

"Yes...but what has this to do with the last battle?" But actually Kozo already could imagine on what Shinji was playing at.

"I hate to ask that... But what if the next Angel is even stronger than the last? Then we will lose. We three are powerful, but I fear that won't be enough anymore. I don't want to burden someone with this job...but we need move Evangelions. I can't demand anything... I'm only a pilot. ...But I can ask you: is there a way? Any way to get reinforcements? Otherwise we are in trouble..."

Fuyutsuki was impressed how mature Shinji acted for someone close to 15 years. Battle had forced him to mature faster. And it spoke for his character that he regretted getting others involved into this war, but admitted that it needed to be done. He was clearly not like his father, he had kept his conscience. Yui would be proud of him. But then there was the request itself...

Unit-03 and 04 were still held by the US-government. Up to now they hadn't seen any reason to tell them to release them. But it was possible to manage the transfer to Tokyo-3, they wouldn't even need to ask SEELE for hidden help, althrough the old men would want to hear the reason for the request. And pilots...that was actually the easy part, since he knew the true facts. He thought about it. The mere possibility that they could lose against the Angels, only because they hadn't the needed strength in numbers, was sobering. The more he thought about it, the more he came to the conclusion that he really had to speak with Gendo about it. Gendo surely had no desire that the Angels win the war. But convincing him to push the matter through, that was the hard part.

"I cannot promise anything, but I will do what I can. The danger you described is far too real to ignore it." Thinking a second about it, he added. "I will speak with the Commander about this matter as soon as possible."

"You take me serious?... I thought I would be simply dismissed," Shinji admitted, very surprised that the Vice-Commander actually agreed with him. He thought he would be lectured that he had no clue of such things.

"Only because you are not an adult is no reason for me not to trust your reasoning," Fuyutsuki explained to Shinji with a warm smile. "I'm not one to dismiss someout without a reason. And since you risk your life for us, you have to be taken serious."

"I..thank you... even if nothing comes out of it. Thank you for your help." Deciding that he should go before his nerves would leave him, this had went different than he he thought it would go, Shinji said his farewell before leaving the office.

Fuyutsuki leaned back in his office chair. _Yui, you would be so proud of your son, he has become such a responsible young man...I only wish we wouldn't have forced him to mature so fast. I still remember the happy little boy he once was..._

Standing up, he decided that he should bring this matter to Gendo as fast as possible. Now that he had been made aware of the problem, he saw the need to fix it as soon as possible. It would be difficult, and he would have to invest lots of convincing, while he would leave out mention of Shinji at all cost, because that would only make Gendo ignore the whole matter. But he knew, once he would have managed to win Gendo for the plan with facts, the rest would be a formality. And he knew that gathering more EVAs also meant better defense, should SEELE decide to backstab them.

But first he had to convince his superior. He prepared for a hard task ahead while walking down the corridor.

_**to be continued...**_

_**Next Episode:**_

_**"Fourth and Fifth Child"**_


	16. Fourth and Fifth Child

I will say these things in advance: I have absolutely no rights at NGE, but you should have already known that.

The story itself is basically a re-telling of the original storyline, but twisted into my way. While at the beginning there seem to be only few divigances, it will become more with each episode. The people, their motivations and the backgrounds are while holding true to the basic layout, changed at my imagination in many details, so canon-purists now are allowed to flame me.

NOTE: I hate both, the ending of the TV series, and how End of Evangelion turned out. So don't expect any of those outcomes.

This is Shinji/Rei. You will propably notice, that this one concentrates most on Toji, Hikari, Kensuke and Mana, so the other children won't appear much.

For all the work I put into this, I would like to get reviews. I will always try to respond to every review I get.

* * *

**Chapter 15: Fourth anf Fifth Child**

"What is your conclusion, Dr. Akagi?" Gendo asked her.

"After analysing the recordings of all three units, I can only agree, that if only a second longer it would have broken the pilots, effectively allowing the Angel to crush them. The Vice-Commander's conclusion therefore is valid, and his idea to get reinforcements is the most logical one, should a future Angel be even stronger," Ritsuko explained.

It had been several hours ago, when Fuyutsuki had entered his office. What had followed was him explaining his idea, that he had went through the battle and that they had almost lost it. It came down to Fuyutsuki using every bit of logic to disarm his doubts, of which he had many. In the end, he had called Dr. Akagi to have another professional opinion. And now she had reported her findings.

"Then I will prepare the neccassary steps," Gendo stated, seeing no further need to talk about it, with the situation now clear. Normally he was next to impossible to persuade, but he had no use for his new plans to be screwed over by the Angels winning. And more units also meant less risk to Unit-01. "What about pilots?"

"There are two that are promising, we can pretend that the Marduk Institue got a lucky double hit. But we have to approach this with care," she answered, hoping that the choice would be the right one.

"Approach them as soon as possible. I do not want to risk SEELE sending one of their own pilots, which I'm sure they have. We can't risk a possible spy," Gendo ordered further.

"We will approach them as school again begins, to avoid suspiction. This will be in three days," Dr. Akagi acknowledged.

"Do everything needed. Dismissed."

Walking out of the office, Ritsuko wondered how she should approach this best. It really was a delicate issue. She was bad at talking with people, so she would need Misato's help in this. If she did things right, there would be no suspition that right now two pilots were found, and the two children themselves would join on their free will. Of course only, should their parents agree, since they were still minors...

* * *

_...some time later..._

In a purely holographic room, there were twelve totally black monoliths, each showing a red number from one to twelve on the front. They were the anonymus representation of SEELE, when sound only was enabled. It was seldom for the whole council to gather, usually the top five of the inner comitee handled everything. But after all what had happened in the last time, they saw the need to discuss everything.

"Was it smart to leave the lance to Ikari? Who knows what he will do with it?" asked 11.

"Yes, the damage he could do with it to our plans can be enormous," 08 agreed.

SEELE 05 answered "No, he knows exactly that we watch every step he does with it. He will do with it exactly as we want. He knows that otherwise he will lose his head. And he has no idea that we don't need it for our plan, it is only a nice extra."

"And what about Ikari's attempts to get Units 03 and 04 transferred to his base? We hadn't forseen this in our scenario, and it could grant him an advantage against us," 07 interjected, mentioning the most recent event. "Shouldn't we make sure that he will be denied?"

SEELE 03, responsible for the United States, answered this. "We of course have taken apart every word of his report and official orders. His reason that this is because of the growing strength of the Angels is unattackable. Preventing the transfer will cause unwanted...attention. But it won't matter, our research is already done and production underway."

"I don't like the fact that we are partially blind to what goes on within NERV. Our spy up to now has proven less successful than we had hoped. I'm for trying to put our special eye into place," 12 said, his voice showing his clear annoyance.

"As much as it would make things easy for us, it sadly isn't possible anymore, at least for now," SEELE 04 answered. "Dr. Akagi already has selected two pilot candidates. Should they accept, trying to dictate to Ikari that our pilot has to replace one of them will arouse his suspiction, making our spy worthless. A spy who created attention is useless."

There were grumbles of annoyance.

"What about our other eye? We still lack observation of the pilots," 09 asked.

"We are still giving her the right...motivation..." SEELE 02 answered. "The experiment was successful, and now we try to have another use for her. She will be ready in due time. She is very stubborn, but the pain will be too much for her, and then she will break. She is convinced we are the only ones that know how to subdue the pain."

Now finally SEELE 01, Keel himself, took the word. "We will now decide. Who is in favor of putting this plant into place?"

Ten of the monoliths glowed green.

"Then it is decided. She will be put into place when the time is right. The situation with the Units 03 and 04 is not optimal, but in the end meaningless, because our own power will be greater than all of them combined. We only need Unit-01 intact. Ikari has no idea of our real plan. Will we be done with production accoding to plan?"

"Yes, our calculation say that we will be ready in time," SEELE 04 reported.

"Very good. If there aren't any further questions, this meeting is closed." The monoliths vanished, aside from Keel's. His hologram appeared instead. "Things are moving..."

"Indeed they are moving. Fascinating how fast an old prediction can change. Isn't it?" a young voice asked from the darkness, then a boy, roughly 15 years old, with pale skin, red eyes and white hair, appeared.

If Keel still had eyes, he would roll them. This brat always gave smart comments at the worst times. "Tabris. Stay out of the system."

"You fear that I spy on you, while I already know everything. The prophecy says that I will succeed. And while it goes against my nature, I welcome destiny." That said, the boy called Tabris vanished.

Keel couldn't supress a cruel smile. _You think you know everything, while in reality you know nothing. You arrogant Angel-brat. We will see who laughes in the end..._

Feeling asured that he would have the last laugh in this matter, Keel logged out of the system.

* * *

_...Class 2-A, three days later..._

It was the first day of school after the autum leave, something that had went by too fast for most of the people in the school in general. And most of them hadn't seen forward to this day. Well, maybe with exception of Mana Kirishima. She had been quite eager to finally begin school and get under children of her own age. Her introducion to class went well, but some of the girls already guessed that Mana would have to endure a little too much attention from the boys.

Right now was the first period, and all the pupils of the class 2-A were already really bored out of their minds by Algebra. Well, not quite all of them. Rei was quietly doing her work, while Asuka was bored out of her mind, her work already done, since she didn't need to read Kanji to understand math. Shinji looked ready to chew on his pencil, while Toji looked already desperate enough to try in look over to Kensuke for some solutions.

Mana actually was chewing on her pencil. Not because she was unable to solve the tasks at hand, but because she was deadly bored. She had imagined school as to finally mingle with her own age group, but not like this! _I would have avoided school if I had known that I would die of boredom..._

The silence was finally broken, when the internal announcement system activated. _"Toji Suzuhara and Hikari Horaki are to report to the principal's office."_

Everyone at once looked to Toji, as if asking what bad thing he had done, that also required Hikari's presence. "Hey! I didn't do anything!" he tried to defend himself. _Well, at least not recently... I wonder what old stuff they have found?_

Standing up, Hikari gave him a look that said, that she had some trouble to believe him. _In what trouble did he get this time? _she thought, remembering certain other incidents. "Sensei, we will leave for this summon," she told the teacher, before both of them left.

"All right, what skeleton do you have in the closet that now will bite you?" Hikari asked him, while they walked down the corridor. In all her time as Class-Rep., she had learned that Toji was capable of being a deliquent.

"Really, I have no idea! I've done nothing for quite some time!" Toji again defended himself. He really didn't know what the principal could want from them. But his feeling told him, that it couldn't be anything good.

Hikari looked him into the eyes for a moment, then berated herself for not believing him. She should have seen that he was serious. "I believe you... But why do they want to see both of us? Well, here we are. Leave the talking to me, all right?" Toji didn't disagree, Hikari was simply better with talking to the school staff.

Announcing the arrival by knocking on the door, they walked in, and got a surprise. The principal actually wasn't present. Instead there were two woman. The first they recognised at once as Misato, who they knew good by now. The other one however, Hikari hadn't seen before, while Toji remembered her only from after his adventure in the entry plug. She had been very efficient at shouting at him and Kensuke, before Misato had taken over that job.

"Uhm...Major Katsuragi. We were told to report here..." Toji said, surprised.

"Oh, that's all right, come in you two. It's because we have to speak with both of you." Misato didn't sound very enthusiastic. She actually hated what she would have to ask them, she didn't really want to do it, but she knew that they had little other choice. At least these two children had a choice, and that they would decide on their free will was some consolence.

Toji and Hikari didn't know what to make of this and wordlessly sat down.

"I'm Dr. Ritsuko Akagi, leader of the science staff at NERV," Ritsuko introduced herself. "We are here because of an important matter, involving you two."

Seeing their confusion, Misato added: "I'm sure you two know of the last Angel attack?"

"Shinji told us of it. It was scary that only seconds later, half of Japan would have been destroyed," Hikari admitted. Actually she had become several shades paler when told how close all of them had come to dying on that day.

Seeing that she hadn't to explain that further, Misato continued. "After the battle was analysed, Command had decided to order reinforcements. Two units are ready, but we lacked the needed pilots. So the effords to find suitable candidates was intensified."

Seeing where this could lead, Toji gasped. "You can't be serious..."

"The Marduk Institute reponsible for finding suitable piloting condidates located you two as the Fourth and Fifth Child capable of piloting an Evangelion. A lucky hit that we found two pilots at once and so close together," Ritsuko said, spelling it out.

"You want us...to pilot an EVA?" Hikari asked. All this piloting stuff that she heared from the pilots always seemed to be so far away. And suddenly being given this choice was...overwhelming. She didn't know what to do.

"Exactly. Althrough it won't be your choice alone. Your parents actually have to agree, since you are still minors... I know that this comes all of a sudden, and we can't force you to do it. But without reinforcements, we fear that we are in trouble," Misato explained.

"Why we?" Hikari asked.

"Only children born after Second Impact can pilot an Evangelion, and even under those, the ones actually capable of piloting are rare. We wouldn't use children, if we had a choice in that matter," Dr. Akagi explained to them. "And since pilots are so rare and you two were found as capable of doing so, we have approached you."

"But we have no clue how to pilot at all! And we were told that it took years of training!" Toji interjected.

"Maybe for Asuka and Rei, but seeing how fast Shinji has made progress without years of training, we guess that the older the pilot, the faster he or she learns piloting. Therefore we see no problem, should you two agree," Misato answered to this objection.

"That's a lot to take in..." Toji finally said, overwhelmed. "I can't decide that so fast. Can I have time to think about it?"

"Yes, I need that, too," Hikari agreed.

Misato looked to Ritsuko. "Of course you can have time to think about it. It will take a week for both units to arrive, so we can give you a week to consider our offer. All kind of details can wait until we can get this base decision from both of you," Dr. Akagi offered.

"If you two have made a decision, and of course got the needed approval, come to me," Misato added.

"Thanks..."

Leaving the principal's office, both of them were at a loss what to say. To get such an offer out of the blue... They really had to process that first. And they knew that they had to speak with their friends about that, too.

* * *

_...after school, a street cafè..._

"All right...now I understand why you didn't want Asuka here. She isn't the best person to talk with about things concerning piloting," Shinji admitted.

Toji and Hikari had told him right after the end of his school day that they needed to speak with him, and that it was urgent. Though Hikari said that she felt that it was unfair, she mentioned that Asuka better should be left out of it. Rei was unavailable, since she had cleaning duty and then her regular monthly check-up with Dr. Akagi. That left him and Mana, who had wanted to tag along. So sitting down at a street cafè with some cold lemonade, the two of them had reported of what had happened during school. Listening to it, Shinji was surprised that his old man actually had agreed with it, and them he felt slightly guilty that because of him, his two friends were now forced to make such a far-reaching decision.

Mana, who had listened to all of it, whistled loudly. "What is it with children being forced to save the world? I guess we should open a club." More serious she added, "But really, I can understand that you feel really scared. I know that feeling, I needed lots of time to get used to my piloting, too."

"I have to be honest with you two, it was actually me who gave them the idea to get reinforcements... I had no idea that they would select you two as pilots," Shinji admitted, trying to get this off his chest.

They reacted quite surprised by this confession. Then Toji put on his tough look. "I should beat you up for getting us roped into this."

Shinji didn't look impressed in the slightest. "Stop this shit. I know exactly that you wouldn't do this anymore. Even more not with Hikari present. She is simply a too good influence on you, and you don't won't to make her angry at you."

Hikari looked away to hide the slight red tint of her cheeks when being called a good influence, she still wasn't fully used to being complimented like that, while Toji dropped the farcade. "Alright, I was only joking... Still, what the hell are we supposed to do now? After you told us how dangerous yet important your job is, I have no idea what to think of it."

"It came all of a sudden, from one minute to the other. We had no time to even prepare for the idea. This is simply too big, we haven't really processed this yet..." Hikari added. "We really need advice from you, Shinji. What should we do?"

Downing some lemonade, Shinji shook his head. "I fear I'm a bad source of advice."

Mana arched an eyebrow, when hearing this. "Why? You are a pilot, their friend, and already have lots experience with that stuff. Can't picture someone better suited for it."

"It's because I would be biased. My advice would be painted by my own reasons for doing it, and my belief why I have to do it. That's why I will only give this advice: You can make that choice only on your own, with you getting clear with why you want or don't want to do it," Shinji clarified.

"And we hoped that you could give us more than that..." Hikari sighed, a little disappointed. She really felt like sitting between all chairs. On one hand she was really scared of all the responsibility that came with piloting, and how hard it would be. On the other hand, she knew that because it was important, it would be selfish to stay away.

Shinji sighed as well, he hated that he couldn't help them with this decision. "Don't get me wrong, I do care, but I would influence your decision to what _I _think would be best for _me_, even unintentionally. Sorry that I can't be more of a help."

"At least you are honest about it. But it doesn't make it any easier." Letting himself fall back into his seat, Toji felt that he would get a headarche very soon. He wasn't made for so much brooding. He followed the maxime that often ignorance is bliss.

"Take your time. Eh...but one thing, don't tell Kensuke about it, all right?" Shinji asked, just realising a possible problem.

"I'm not THAT stupid! He would beg Major Katsuragi to take over for one of us. No chance that I'll tell him!" Toji made clear. Kensuke with his fetish for all military things, Evangelions especially, had to be held away from this topic as far as possible.

Shortly later they all went their own ways, but Mana stayed with Shinji, talking some more to him. "You really meant that with being biased?" she asked him, while they walked down the street.

"Yeah...Even if I would try to be neutral on this issue, being a pilot myself of course shifts my priorities. Thank all Gods that they did understand my reason for it. Being in mortal danger regulary does this," Shinji admitted. "Thankfully I can gather strength for it."

"Wouldn't the source of that strength be a certain blue-haired girl?" Mana teased him, then giggled when she saw his reaction. "So I'm right with my guess."

"All right, Rei really helps me to shoulder all of it. She is so calm and collected, and yet can be so...lovely..." When he saw the big smile Mana had developed, he quickly added. "Get your mind out of the gutter, I didn't mean it that way!"

"Sure..." Mana said mysteriously, never losing her smile.

Shinji had no idea what she now meant with that. _Sometimes I don't get girls. What the hell does she mean with that? Good that Rei is so direct, otherwise I wouldn't understand her half of the time..._

Mana on the other hand couldn't believe how easy it was to get Shinji out of concept by using Rei as the topic with vague implications. _Oh, he is really totally taken by her! She is really a lucky girl, wish I had met him before her... Well...a girl can always dream._

Until they parted ways, Shinji was wondering what went on in her head, while Mana envied Rei's connection to him, though she knew she had no chance.

* * *

_...Rei's apartment, late afternoon..._

"Ok, Rei. Now we add some onion, and it will be ready," Shinji explained. He was just showing Rei how to make scrambled eggs. It always interesting to see how she analysed every move of him while preparing the food. Looking at her, he was glad how much progress she had made since he had known her.

Her outer apperance alone was witness of that. What had once been a pageboy haircut, was now reaching below her shoulders. Her long, blue hair already made her look quite different and even more attractive. He also got her out of her habit of wearing her school uniform all day. Seeing her in jeans and shirt looked so...normal. And he couldn't have pictured her wearing a apron back then.

"Good, and now I turn it one last time, and it is ready for us..." Shinji continued.

Finally he was done, and put the scrambled eggs on two plates. Sitting down at the kitchen table, he waited for Rei to tell him if she liked it, or not. He watched her taking the first bite. "Well, what do you think?"

"It is...good," Rei said, then continued to eat.

Both of them ate in silence. When they brought their plates to the sink, Shinji finally asked her: "Rei, did you know that Hikari and Toji were offered to pilot two new EVAs that arrive shortly?"

Rei raised an eyebrow. That was news to her, Dr. Akagi hadn't said anything about it to her. "No, I was not informed about it."

"To think that two of our friends were offered piloting... Strange that aside from Asuka, we all more or less come from the same region..." Shinji wondered how pilots were searched for, since he thought that there had to be more out in the world. "Makes you wonder how they look out for pilots."

While Rei knew some things, she had no idea how pilots were selected, so it was a mystery to her, too. "The Marduk Institute ordered with finding the children works isolated, so I do not know."

"And what do you think of the possibility that these two could fight at our side?" Shinji asked further, while they started to wash the dishes.

"Reinforcements will help to defeat the Angels. It is their choice," Rei answered. "But I do not want to see them get hurt."

Shinji translated it in his head. Rei was glad for them helping, but she was also concerned that these two could get hurt in the process. Something she didn't want. "We can always hope..."

* * *

_...Suzuhara home, at the evening..._

He had thought about it. Actually he had thought about it for the rest of the entire day. That was the toughest decision had had to make up to now in his life. He had thought really hard about it. Weighted the pros and cons. And in the end, he had made a decision.

He wouldn't run away like a coward, tucking in his tail, and risk that in the end others would get even more hurt than his sister, only because he had been too much of a chicken. Also, if Hikari would accept, what would she think of him? And he wouldn't be there to help her in the worst case.

In retrospect, that was the easy task.

The hard task was, to convince his father to allow him to do it. Without his approval, Toji knew, there was no way he would ever get close to NERV. They were now discussing it for almost half a hour, and his father hadn't agreed yet. His sister was silently watching the whole exchange.

Finally Mr. Suzuhara went out of things to say, and asked his son directly: "Alright. I can see that I can't convince you to stay away from this. But before I will give my blessing, I want to know something. You always talked around that issue. Why are you so insistant on joining them, beside your main reason of protecting the people from these monsters? There has to be a second reason. And please the truth..."

"Uhm..." Toji scratched the back of his head. Should he really tell his father?

To his horror, his sister decided that this was the moment to break her silence. "I know it! He wants to protect his girlfriend, the other pilot! Oh, that's sweet..."

"Kasumi!" Toji gasped in horror.

"Its true, isn't it? You want to be her knight in shining armor," she added, while making no secret how much she liked the idea.

"Is that true, son?" his father asked him, and his smirk was a clear sign that he already found this to be a noble reason for Toji to pilot, beside him protecting the people from the Angels.

"Yes..." Toji finally sighed. "I don't want that something happens to her just because I wasn't there to help her." He looked to his sister. "And Kasumi, we might be close friends now, but she is NOT yet my girlfriend. Hell, we haven't even kissed yet!"

"Yet..." Kasumi only said.

"Son, I think I have no other choice than to agree with your wish, however, there is one thing I want to make clear," Mr. Suzuhara told him. "Try not to get killed..."

"Alright...that's an easy one." At least he hoped so. He wondered how Hikari was doing right now, while hoping that he could keep that promise.

* * *

_...Horaki home, at the same time..._

Hikari had thought about the whole issue very carefully. Such things like that weren't a minute's decision, since it was so far fetching. She had actually thought about it almost the entire day, and now had come to a final decision. She was used to make decisions, it came with her school job, but this was a totally new dimension.

She wanted to do it. She felt that it was her duty to do so. Otherwise there was always the possibility that if she declined, people could suffer. That, and if Toji accepted too, she could watch out that he wouldn't get himself into mortal danger with his carelessness.

So far so good. Winning the battle for her parents' approval, that was a totally different can of worms.

Her father had been rather easy. While he was concerned about 'his little girl', he also knew that Hikari was quite mature for her age, and thus he trusted her judgement. Her mother on the other hand was far more difficult, it was clear that she had inherited her sometimes hot temper from her.

"You want to get yourself killed, young lady?" her mother ranted. It went like that already roughly for a hour, but by now Mrs. Horaki was showing signs of exhaustion, so Hikari let her rant for ten more minutes, until finally she had spent all her strength, and had to sit down in one of the seats.

"All right, mom, now that you have said all this, please let me finally explain. I want to do it NOT to seek a thrill or because I want to show off. I want to do it because I'm one of the few that can do it. I can't live with the possible guilt that because I declined, people could die. I want to help, because I was told that should these monsters win, we will all die," Hikari finally explained her reasons, not that her mother was too exhausted to speak against her.

"There...is something you don't tell me..." her mother said.

"What should I have forgotten?" Hikari asked, hoping that her mother would buy it.

"Maybe because she also wants to be close with her honey?"

Horrified Hikari looked to the door, where her older sister Kodama stood. "**KODAMA**! Don't even mention something like this! We two haven't even kissed yet." Hikari however couldn't help but to become an insteresting shade of red in her face, unable to hold this reaction back.

"Gotcha!" Kodama laughed.

Mrs. Horaki seemed to have gathered new strength with these news. "You mean you also use it to get closer to this...boy?" She made no secret that her opinion of Toji wasn't the very best. For her he was the typical school sportsboy. Many muscles but no brain and manners like a wooden block.

Hikari became only redder, the whole situation became really uncomfortable. "No... I ... I only want to watch out that he doesn't kill himself accidently."

Her mom looked her really hard into the eyes, then she let herself sink back into the seat, a clear sign that her fighting spirit was laid to rest for now. "Alright...I won't stop you from joining them, even if I still think that you get yourself into unneeded trouble. But should this boy try anything funny, then even his battlemachine won't save him from me." Deciding that Hikari had endured enough, she switched her attention to Kodama. "And you should be quiet about boys. I need to talk with you after what I've found in your room."

Kodama decided to make a fast exit. She only wondered how she could have overseen that thing on the floor after her night with Sato.

* * *

_...the next day..._

"No Class Rep. today? And Suzuhara also missing? That's strange, especially after yesterday," one of the boys gossiped, while they were waiting for class to begin. That neither Toji or Hikari were present was gossip topic number one right now.

"Hey, Shinji. What happend that her majesty has such a bad mood today?" Kensuke asked Shinji, when seeing how much Asuka was sulking.

"Oh, she heared something that she didn't like this morning, and she is sulking since then," Shinji explained. No need to tell him that the reason was the fact that Toji was becoming a pilot, that she was in a bad mood. Hikari and Toji had come to their apartment that morning to tell Misato their decision. And while Asuka was thrilled to have Hikari as a pilot, her good mood was instantly negated when hearing that Toji was going to be a pilot, too.

"Who knows what gets on in her brain..." Looking at Toji's empty chair, he added. "I wonder where these two are. It's not like Hikari to miss in class. And after yesterday... I wonder if there is a connection. Maybe they are tangled up in something," Kensuke speculated.

Shinji decided to better stay silent about that one. Kensuke would know about it soon enough, but it wouldn't be him to spill the beans. As for where these two were. Misato had driven them to the geofront, so right now they propably were going through the formalities and everything following.

Shinji pitied them, because he knew what the day would have in store for them, after his own experiences.

* * *

_...some hours later, NERV HQ..._

Toji used another hanky to clear his running nose. He felt that he wouldn't have signed up when knowing what would have followed today after he had signed everything. The medical exam was really bad, and he felt that he would need some time to forget something as embarrassing like that, but the procedure to get his correct body measurements for the plugsuit was even worse! A whole hour in this icy glomp-filled plastic tube, naked! Speak of total loss of dignity!

And his mood didn't get better by knowing that Hikari was going through the same right now. She had walked in just when he left, and he could guess that it would go exactly the same. Looking on the clock, he guessed that they should be done soon.

Blowing his nose into the hanky, Toji felt that this better be worth it. _I got through the doctor's appointment of horror, got demoted to nude guy on ice on display and recieved a cold in the process. The things I do to do the right thing..._

Right then, Hikari walked into the break room, where he had waited. And alone by looking at her, he could guess that it had been even worse for her.

Actually worse was and understatement for Hikari. She was utterly mortified!

Sure, she had been though doctors appointments before, but the way Dr. Akagi had examined that one region had not only been uncomfortable but humiliating as well. And she tried to forget about the whole measurement procedure. She had felt like a speciem in a test tube while standing naked in a freezer. She was still feeling cold and her nose itched.

_I REALLY hope I won't have to again go through something like that anytime soon... _she prayed.(1)

Then suddenly... **"AAAHHH-CCHHOWW!"** A loud sneeze escaped her. She sniffed when realising that she got a cold from all this. "That's the last I need now..." she groaned.

"Here..." Toji offered her a hanky.

"Thanks..." Accepting it, she blew her nose.

"I guess you too went through the chamber of horrors?" Toji asked her, hoping that she wouldn't get it wrong.

Hikari shuddered, not wanting to remember it. "We better don't talk about it. But I hope that there aren't any more surprises in store for us..."

* * *

_...the next day..._

"Another day, and again these two aren't present. And the school computer says they are excused for today. I know that there is something in the bush! But Shinji isn't telling anything, despite him obviously knowing something, Asuka is stilly bitchy and wouldn't tell me anyway, and take three guesses how much I can get out of Rei..." Kensuke told Mana, while they were on the roof terrace for the lunch break. She was right now the only one he could talk with.

"Are you really sure?" Mana asked him. She had no desire to tell Kensuke that these two were right now in the geofront. After being told how much Kensuke wished to be a pilot, she thought it was best not to tell him.

"Of course! I bet they leave me out of it on purpose..." Kensuke stopped, when seeing Mana looking guilty. "You know?"

_I was always a baid lair... _Mana mentally groaned. "Ok, yes, I know whats going on, all right?"

"Tell me! Tell me! I hate it to be in the dark!" Kensuke begged her.

Mana wondered if she really should tell him. But then again, it was already too late for second thoughts. "They were selected..."

Kensuke wondered for a moment, then his face became the embodiment of disappointment. "You mean...they were selected as pilots...for Evangelion?" he barely got out.

Mana could already see the start of a depression forming in him. "Please don't make them responsible for it. They were found out as capable for piloting. And they accepted. You must be really disappointed that you weren't selected..."

"I don't blame them...I would have taken the chance, too. But it is so unfair! I'm the most eager, the most motivated to pilot an EVA, and then I wasn't chosen for it. The world is unfair," Kensuke lamented, feeling like he was swallowed up by a hole.

Mana had no idea what to say to make him feel better. "Maybe you get lucky next time..."

"I don't think there will be a next time..." Kensuke quietly said, feeling left out. All of his friends were pilots, so he felt like the outsider of the group now.

"Why does it mean so much for you to pilot?" Mana asked him. "I mean, I always hear that you would die for it, but you never said, why."

Kensuke pointed at himself. "Please look at me... I'm a kid with glasses. One of many in the world. But I want to be someone. I want to be a hero, want to be recognised. Right now I'm nothing..."

"But you are someone. You don't need to be a hero for it," Mana offered. She had no idea that beneath the surface, Kensuke felt so disappointed of his life up to now, and wanted to get recognised.

"But no one would remember me... Unlike pilots.." He leaned on the railing, looking over the city. "I bet right now they are doing all the things I dreamed of," Kensuke sighed.

Kensuke couldn't know that he was far off.

Because at the same time...

"I said no! NO WAY!" Hikari shouted from behind the curtain.

Ritsuko rolled her eyes. Hikari had a problem with her plugsuit, so much was clear. "Alright, what is the problem? He had no problem with his plugsuit." Ritsuko said, looking to Toji, who looked actually good in his black plugsuit.

"Oh yes, because he has gotten a boy suit. I thought Asuka was shameless with her suit, but to see that this is the norm for girls...! This is sexist!" Hikari shouted, obviously distressed.

"Please leave us alone for a minute, alright?" Ritsuko asked Toji. Toji left without a word, having no desire to get between the fronts. "Ok, he is gone. What is exactly your problem?"

The curtain was pulled back, to reveal Hikari in a plugsuit cut almost exactly like Asuka's, this one however was in a strong green color. "THIS is my problem. Who the hell made the design? Why does that suit has to pronounce my breasts to the extreme? My does it have to go all the way up the cleft of my butt so that it is shown to everyone? Shinji hadn't this! I want a re-design or I go on strike!"

Ritsuko didn't want to tell her that it was her design. To imagine that she made a sexist design against girls with this suit... "Ok...OK! Then we will change it! It won't ride up down there anymore, and we will put some reinforcement over your chest, a milder version of what the male suit has.

"Good." Hikari then closed the curtain to get back into her clothes. She hoped that Dr. Akagi would hold word.

* * *

_...some days later, NERV testing facility Mazoshira..._

"You could mistake these EVAs for twins, if not for the color," Asuka commented, when looking at the two units standing at the testing facility of NERV in Mazoshira, which was quite a distance away from Tokyo-3. And it was true, both EVAs almost had the exact outer design as Unit-01, with two eyes and a head that had a armored face. But unlike Unit-01, they had no horn. Both units could only be held apart by their paintjob. Unit-03 was painted totally black, while Unit-04 was painted green.

Both Units were fixed in the cage by the shoulders, so that no accidents could happen with them, but otherwise there were no other security measures in place. They weren't needed for this test anyway as nothing was expected to go wrong.

Misato had brought the other pilots along for the activation test. Hikari and Toji couldn't start training until their EVAs had arrived, since using the simulator was saying nothing about the real abilities, and a sych test was useless until they had connected the first time for real with their Units. After that, their training would be in their EVAs, connected to the training facility in the testing chambers.

"How do you two feel?" Misato asked both of them over the communication screen. Both of them were already in their plugs.

"I feel sick..." Hikari groaned. "This stuff tastes horrible. I feel as if I have to throw up." At first she had felt as if she would drown, and now she felt like puking.

"Try to hold it in, all right? It would be bad for you to throw up while in the plug," Dr. Akagi cautioned her, while watching the last preperations.

"I try to..."

"I for my part also think that stuff tastes like shit. But at least I don't feel sick. I'm only nervous," Toji answered. "I hope we won't disappoint you."

"Don't worry, everything will go all right," Shinji tried to calm down his friend. "Just try to relax, that works for me most of the time."

"You say that so easy. I'm still nervous." Then both of their pictures disappeared, communication reduced to audio for the test.

"Get ready, we will now start the connection!" Ritsuko cautioned them. At once the whole team became professional, when the starting sequence for both units was initiated, power flowing through both of them.

"Commencing AC-nerve connections!"

"We are on the way!"

At once the display that showed the nerve connections to the EVAs becan to get green, until the most important point was reached. "Attention! Borderline in 5...4...3...2...1... Success!" All gauges went to green, and actually both units showed some movement. The all clear sign appeared on the screen.

Misato re-opened the video link, while Ritsuko was busy with checking the details. "You have done it! How are you feeling?"

"A little strange, to be honest," Toji answered, unused to this feeling.

"It is, as if I've partly left my body," Hikari observed. "It is a little scary."

"Don't worry, that's normal and totally harmless," Misato tried to dispell her worry. Then she looked to Ritsuko. "Well, how are they doing?"

"For the fact that they do this the first time, quite well. Toji managed to get a solid 28.4, while Hikari got 27.9. of course with training this will get better, but it is a good start. Our theory that the older the pilot, the better the results, must be correct," she answered, not looking up from the screens.

"Looks like you two just qualified yourselves for training with our other three pilots over the next two weeks to beef that up as fast as possible," Misato told them.

Toji groaned. "No school, but a sadistic training regime. Well, it could be worse."

"I'm more concerned how much the class will slack off while I'm away," Hikari said in worry. True, there was a substitute for her for the time being, but she doubted that he could manage the job.

"Misato, won't this be bad for our grades?" Shinji asked his guardian.

Misato smirked. "Not if you can work on it at the evening, after your classmates delivered it for you."

Now Shinji, Asuka and Toji groaned. Training was bad enough, but homework as extra, that would be two killer weeks ahead. Hikari didn't complain, she thought that hard work paid off, while Rei had no idea what was wrong.

_Is avoidance of work, and complaining about it, a human trait? I have to ask Shinji... _she thought.

_**to be continued...**_

(1) If you know the story, you should know that her prayers won't be heared.

_**Next Episode:**_

_**"Training Days"**_


	17. Training Days

I will say these things in advance: I have absolutely no rights at NGE, but you should have already known that.

The story itself is basically a re-telling of the original storyline, but twisted into my way. While at the beginning there seem to be only few divigances, it will become more with each episode. The people, their motivations and the backgrounds are while holding true to the basic layout, changed at my imagination in many details, so canon-purists now are allowed to flame me.

NOTE: I hate both, the ending of the TV series, and how End of Evangelion turned out. So don't expect any of those outcomes.

This is Shinji/Rei. Sorry for the VERY long delay, but I had immensed myself in the world of Baldur's Gate, and only had returned recently from it. So now I'm back with a vengeance.

For all the work I put into this, I would like to get reviews. I will always try to respond to every review I get.

* * *

**Chapter 16: Training Days**

"No, aim higher, or..."

"Auuuoooch!"

"Too late..." Shinji sighed, when he heared Toji's yelp of mild pain.

They were twelve days in the training right now. Twelve very exhausting days for all of them. Shinji knew what a crash course into the world of EVA included, he himself had went through it, but he had trained all on himself, while now they were called in to actively train Toji and Hikari. It also gave them the chance to train group combat.

However, getting the basics into them had been the most pressing task at first. They had no desire to have another almost-desaster as with Shinji's first battle, of which he still had no idea how he had won it. They had learned how to use their Units fast enough, so it commenced to battle training, intermixed with synch-tests to read off the mental progress. They actually did quite well. Considering that all of this was thown into their lap from one day to the other.

Right now, the EVAs were all connected in the big training facility, that simulated battle conditions inside the plugs. Shinji and Asuka were literally given the task to coach the new pilots in close combat, while Rei, not really suited for this task, was acting as the merciless referee. Toji and Hikari were busy with fighting the holographic representations of two already defeated Angels as a test of their already learned skill.

But seeing this mistimed move showed, that there was still a way to go.

"The jock doesn't even have enough brains to use his muscles properly. And I have to fight together with him? Scary thought..." Asuka complained, while watching Hikari trying to slam her knife into the core of the holographic fourth Angel, trying to evade the energy whips at the same time.

Asuka hadn't been thrilled when hearing that Toji was selected as a pilot, after being excited about her friend Hikari being selected. And she had made no secret that she thought of him as totally incompetent for the job. She only wished she had a way to get rid of him, but what could she do as a simple pilot, even if you are the best there is?

"What? I will show you, over-bitch!" Toji shouted, angry. This time he only needed less than a minute to slam his fist into the holographic core of the third Angel, making it collapse. The simulated Unit-03 ran away as fast as possible, before the Angel blew up. "No brains?" Toji asked mockingly.

"Schwanzfixierter Idiot..." Asuka grumbled.

"Nice way to get a synch-spike, but better don't rely on anger in real combat," Misato commented over the comm, watching the performance. "And Asuka, mind your language..." she warned the red-head, having understood very well her insult to Toji.

"Ja ja..."(1) Asuka answered lamely.

"I pretend that I haven't heared this, but don't push me too far, young lady." Hearing the door open, she turned her chair, to see Ryoji walk in. "Back from whatever job you had to do?" she asked, while returning her attention to the training performance.

"Yeah, wasn't that difficult." He would never tell her what kind of work he sometimes had to do. Being a spy wasn't something to be proud of. Especially one in his situation. Sitting into the chair beside her, he looked at the holographic battle on the screen. "How are our new pilots doing? I heared they made good progress."

"For being thrown into the cold water, they do well. We can't expect them to be as good as the other children right now. That needs time. However, their synch-ratio, while rising, is clearly not at Shinji's level, which makes me wonder a little," Misato said.

"I guess no one can compare to him. He seems to be a very special case." Kaji had a vague idea that something in Unit-01 might be the factor, but he was denied such information so he didn't know. "Not that we should complain."

_Yes. Without him, we would have all died already. Hell, we would have died in the first Angel attack without him. A strange concidence that he was ordered to come right on that day... _Misato realised.

Right then, the battle ended when Hikari managed to ram the knife into the core, making the Angel collapse. The whole simulation ended, and the comm windows of the pilots appeared on the big screen. "How did we do?" Hikari asked, feeling a little sore after this long training day.

"Rei? Your conclusion?" Misato asked her, since it was her task to analyse the simulation.

"Pilots Suzuhara and Horaki have made progress, but their fighting style is still unrefined and simple, needing improvement. Pilot Suzuhara is too careless in his attacks, resulting in his Unit getting damaged. Pilot Horaki is too defensive, thus opening a window of opportunity for the enemy to use distance weapons. In real combat, they both would have died," Rei concluded without mercy in total professionalism.

"Dooh!" Toji groaned. Hearing the truth always hurt. Hikari seemed to take it rather well at first glance, but seeing her look of disbelival on the screen was answer enough.

"Don't take it too hard. Rome wasn't built at one day," Misato tried to console them. "Well, we are done for today, so hit the showers. You have two more days of training. But come to my office after you have changed, there are some news I have to tell all of you."

The children were glad to finally get out of their plugs. Being submerged in LCL for several hours a day wasn't what they understood as fun. The screen went black, when the Units were disconnected, to return to their holding cages, where the pilots could finally get out. "I hope they are ready when the time comes. I couldn't live with the guilt of sending them to their deaths," Misato commented mostly to herself.

"Not after seein the way they are put through the gauntlet. There can't go wrong much after this," Kaji said with optimism. "Hey, while I'm here, do you have anything planned today? I would like to invite you for dinner in the city at the evening."

"A dinner-date? Since when have you developed such a conservative dating style?" Misato asked, raising an eyebrow. Making a fresh start with him after trying to despise him all these years, and finally admitting that she had been in the wrong, had made a number of things easier for her. And that Kaji had finally dropped most of the macho act was making dealing with him much easier.

"Normally I would have suggested a bar, but since you are dry now..." Kaji let this hang in the air for some moments. Misato had learned to live without alcohol, but it was difficult at times. Times like these. "Well, what do you think?" he asked her with a smirk.

Misato thought about it, then decided that this would be, after getting on friendly terrian with him, the first real step to see if it could work again. "Why not? Of course the gentleman pays..."

"Which gentleman?... But maybe I can be one for this evening," Ryoji joked. "Expect me at eight at your door."

"You might be much more bearable now...but some things don't change..." But she said it as if it wasn't such a bad thing. "Well, I have to go now. See you later."

Kaji couldn't help but to look after her. That they had managed to actually get so far, he wouldn't have thought some time ago, when Misato would have loved to see him fall into a pit.

_Ritsuko told me to be careful, and I better stick to that...like in a minefield... Mhhh, Misato Katsuragi, you are quite the woman, _Kaji mused, then remembered something important.

He hoped that both of them could manage to go through it without making an ass of themselves. It had been quite some time since he had been at a restaurant that was better than McDonalds. He hoped he still had enough social training.

...And he hoped even more that Misato had it, because he knew her too well.

* * *

_...some minutes later, female pilot's shower room..._

"It is hell to get this stuff out of your hair after a longer time, trust me!" Asuka told Hikari, while she was busy with working the shampoo into her long hair. The LCL was really hard to get out after a while. The three girls were busy with preparing their hair for the rinse, while waiting for the water to get warm.

"I know, you told me that already five times since I started piloting... Not that it isn't true," Hikari complained, while putting more on her hair. She had thought that Asuka had obsessed about it...until the first time she had to wash that stuff out of her hair. "That stuff is like glue after minutes."

_And that she does this on a regular basis gives me new respect for her. I would have despaired without her showing me how to get this stuff out, _Hikari mentally added. She never before had encountered something as nasty in hair as LCL.

"I had the honor once of having it getting completely dry. You don't want to experience that one," Asuka cautioned her. She had needed almost an entire day to get the stuff out her long hair, something she didn't want to repeat anytime soon.

Rei said nothing while patiently working the shampoo into her long hair. She didn't understand why these two complained about something, that was unavoidable anyway. And why weren't they complaining to Dr. Akagi, instead of constantly telling it to each other? She knew exactly that it meant more maintenence when she had decided to let her hair grow long, and she didn't complain about it. So what was the use in complaining about it right now at all?

_Human behaviour isn't neccassary logical... _With that thought, she decided to forget brooding over it, and accepted that she would get the reason on her own with time.

"Ahhh...much better..." Asuka sighed, when she rinsed her hair, the strong special shampoo cleaning it of all traces of LCL. The other two girls did so as well, feeling the sticky stuff being washed out of their hair. "I still wonder what you see in this jock, after the performance he showed today. I for my part think, he is a idiot," Asuka said, while grabbing the soap.

Hikari shook her head. Asuka pretty much had made up her mind about Toji, and nothing could change it now, despite him showing that he was more than muscle. "He is more than that... It is hard to describe, but I know that despite his outer apperance, he can be very thoughtful."

"Yeah...sure," Asuka dismissed it.

"Rei, if I'm allowed to ask, why are you together with Shinji?" Hikari asked Rei.

Putting away the soap, Rei seemed to think some seconds, before answering, "Because he cares for me."

"Only that?" Hikari probed further. After witnessing how Rei had said nothing for over a year in school, she found it good that 'mute Ayanami' had found her voice. And she felt that she should encourage her to speak more.

"Shinji was the first to really care for me. He proved this fact to me many times." Rei felt that she couldn't put her other emotions into words, so she didn't do it. The fact alone that Shinji cared for her was already enough, though. _No one before him has cared for me as a person. Not even...not even the Commander._

So that was all she said, while starting to wash off the soap.

Asuka didn't feel that she wanted to comment that. Shinji was a typical boy for her, meaning that she didn't need him, since she could manage on her own. She had managed to totally erase her embarrassing episode, with her thinking that she wanted Shinji, from her mind. She mostly ignored him by now. The only strong emotion she had for him at times was disgust, when she again saw him making out with Rei. Rei, who Asuka couldn't stand, but had to tolerate. What the hell did baka-Shinji see in her?

_Who knows what goes on in a boy's head... _Asuka dismissed it.

At the same time in the male's shower room...

"I tell you, I have no idea what goes on in that girl's head. Why the hell has she to be so bitchy? I really hope that she isn't representative of her country," Toji told Shinji, while they both stood under the showers, rinsing off. Asuka had been generous with lots of borderline-insulting comments (of which some had actually went over the line) today, and it was really hard to swallow down all of it without getting agressive.

"Don't ask me. Misato hinted that her anger and bitchiness is her way to deal with things the easy way, whatever that means. I have no idea how she thinks. I thank all gods that Rei isn't like her at all. Where Asuka is like Mt. Vesuvius, Rei is the calm ocean. I simply try to avoid Asuka," Shinji answered, while turning off the shower after being done.

_After all what I know, Asuka could be simply bonkers, as over-agressive as she is at times, _he silently added. Not that he would dare to say this out in the open, but Asuka's agressive and insulting manners against anyone she disliked might intimidate others, but they only annoyed him to no end.

Toji grabbed his towel after turning off the shower. "I pity you that you have to live with her."

"Nah, I don't see her most of the day outside of school. I think that's the best for both of us," Shinji explained, while rubbing himself dry.

"Lucky you... Since she is friends with Hikari, I see her too often for my taste," Toji grumbled, while they walked to their lockers to get dressed. "At least being with Hikari compensates for it."

Shinji couldn't help but to smile. While Toji and Hikari were not yet more than friends, they were very good friends. Toji wasn't any longer as shy around her as he used to be, and Hikari seemed to be relieved that he finally did the first steps. He wondered how long it would be, until they were at the point, where he himself and Rei where right now.

"You seem to be very fond of Hikari, and she of you," Shinji observed, while pulling up his boxers.

Toji could only agree with this. "Yeah, but we decided to take it slow, one step after the other. I think it's better this way... But to change the topic, I hope we can somehow manage to cheer up Kensuke after we are done here. Man, Mana's description of his mood was really bleak."

"I don't think there is anything we can do...remember, even after I told him what comes with piloting, it was still one of his dreams. Poor guy..." Shinji wondered how someone could have so much bad luck. Kensuke now really had to feel like the fifth wheel on the wagoon. "But we can try anyway."

Toji wondered what they could actually do to cheer him up. _Most of his hobbies center around military stuff, so that's out. Hell, I have no idea what in Jordans' name I could do to make him feel better!_

Shinji then asked Toji, while putting on his pants, "Hey, now that you have almost two weeks of hell behind you, what do you think of piloting?"

"Let's say it this way, I found lots of new respect for you. If this is only training, real battle must but even more difficult. Let's hope I will get as good as you are," Toji answered while zipping up the zipper of his sports jacket, closing his locker. Shinji was done at the same time, closing the last button of his shirt, before closing his own locker.

"Ok, let's wait for the girls, then we'll see what Misato wants from us," Toji told his friend. He guessed that the girls would need longer to get done. "Why do you think the girls always need longer in there?" he asked while they waited on the corridor.

"How the hell should I know? I'm no expert at girl stuff. And maybe we don't even want to know," Shinji shugged. "Why don't you ask Hikari if you are so curious about it?"

"All but that!" Toji stammered, his courage leaving him. "She would get it the wrong way!"

Shinji knew what Toji meant and couldn't surpress a laugh. "You fear that she thinks you could be a pervert? Man...I think you really need help at wording your questions."

Five minutes later, the girls were finally done, and together they walked to Misato's office.

"Ah good, you are all here. I have some good news for you. After you are done with your last two days of training, we will leave you in peace for entire four days," Misato announced to the gathered pilots with a smile.

Asuka's mood brightened at once, when hearing this. free time was always all right with her. "Great! What's the reason?"

"NERV is about to make a major system upgrade. New hardware, software and such stuff... Apart from being ready for battle, everything will be shut down for it. Meaning that you can relax, since half of it falls on a weekend," she told them. She could see the mood in the room literally brightening.

"Yes! Some compensation after all the work!" Toji cheered. After getting all his free time eaten up by training and school work, this was finally to reward for all this sweat.

Misato ah-ehmed, meaning that that there was more. "Ritsuko wants all of you for some kind of bigger experiment that takes several hours on the day after all the upgrade work is done. Its for gathering data for an auto-pilot for EVA."

"Why the hell would would the EVA need an auto-pilot?" Auska asked, feeling threatened by the mere idea that they could replace her with some kind of computer program.

"In case the pilot is unconscious, it will be quite useful," Misato returned, but actually she also felt unwell. One system more meant one more that could fail. The more complex the mechanism, the easier something could go wrong. And the idea of an auto-pilot felt somehow wrong to her. It was one more of these mysteries surrounding NERV.

"This is the logical conclusion," Rei added. She knew that her memory patterns were also used in some way for this project, but Dr. Akagi didn't think that she needed the details. Dr. Akagi in general wasn't very forthcoming with information towards her. Something she had observed over time. "Is there something else?"

"No, I only wanted to give you the good news. Now go home, school work waits." She was answered with some groans. She waited until they were gone, before sitting down in her office chair. She hadn't been entirely truthful to the children.

She of course had been told by Ritsuko quite detailled what the experiment would include. And after hearing it, she had decided that she wouldn't tell the children anything about it, or they would avoid the geofront like the plague. Misato wouldn't even blame them for it, she would have done the same in that situation. But since she was responsible for getting them here, she wouldn't tell them a word.

_Rits...why the hell do you have to make so sure to embarrass the children? Sometimes I think you are really sadistic... _Misato thought, while hoping that she wouldn' slip anything until it was too late for them to bail out, even if it made her feel guilty.

_I will make up for it... Promised._

* * *

_...late evening..._

Typing on his laptop, Shinji was bored. He couldn't sleep so he was browsing through the net to see if he could find anything interesting. He wouldn't walk into the living room, because he heared the TV, meaning that Asuka was still up and he had no desire to her her complaining about his too loud keystrokes.

_She complains about almost everything. She is really spoiled... _Shinji silently ranted. _But complaining won't get me anywhere._

His mental rantings were stopped when he heared the apartment door open. _Looks like Misato is back. Lets see if they managed to get through the evening without any kind of disaster..._

After seeing Misato leaving with Kaji for a dinner-date wearing the best dress she had (which didn't mean very much considering her choice of dresses), he had been curious if they managed to get it done without problems, or if if would end Misato-style, which wasn't what he hoped. Putting his laptop aside he opened the door of his room, only to see that this hope could be burried now. Both, Misato and Kaji, looked as if they had went through a bar fight, their evening attide in serious need of a special cleaning facility.

Shinji bit back any smart comment that came to his mind. He had learned where the fine line was, and he knew to never ever cross it. But still he wondered what the hell these two had done to look like that after a dinner date.

Asuka on the other hand didn't hold back her disappointed snort when seeing them, and wasn't shy to comment on their looks. "Oh great, what did Misato do to get this result?" She had been witness to some of Misato's bad habits back in Germany, so this doesn't come as a surprise to her at all.

"Watch it, young lady!" Misato hissed, but otherwise her mood didn't seem bad at all.

"Pffft, you don't scare me. What the hell happened that you two look as if you had slept in a trash can?" Asuka needled further, unconcerned. "Your bad habits start to have an effect on Mr. Kaji."

That finally made Kaji laugh. "You still have much to learn..."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Asuka asked angry, crossing her arms. She hated it when adults tried to lecture her, even Kaji. She was no little child anymore!

"You will understand in time..." Kaji dismissed it. He had seen enough of her moody periods to know that this was nothing serious. "But to answer the question what happened, let's say that we first mananged to get banned for life from a restaurant after a little...misunderstanding, then had a dinner of chinese noodles at a mobile stand and to crown the evening, we had a little fall-out with three bikers who thought they could rob us. Guess they will wake up in a trash container."

"And it was the most entertaining evening I had in a long time!" Misato added in good spirits. "Gods, I hated these stuck-up snobs at that restaurant..."

"You are impossible, Misato..." Asuka then retreated to her room. She didn't want to bother herself with Misato's antics anymore. She was more mature than her guardian, that said a lot. And she needed her sleep before again dealing with the idiot duo S&T tomorrow. Seeing the latter one at school was worse enough, and she had no desire to see more of him than absolutely needed.

Shinji, who had stayed silent up to now only commented, "If you think of that as an entertaining evening, then I don't even want to see what you two understand under a 'real' date..." He then left the two adults alone.

"The children today simply don't understand the meaning of fun... Well, again thank you for such an entertaining evening...I think you deserve this..." Misato then gave him a peck on the cheek. "Until tomorrow..." she said with a slight smile, before vanishing into her bedroom.

Ryoji couldn't help it, but this small gestue meant much for him. Leaving her apartment and locking the door, he failed to see the penguin looking after him. Pen-Pen was just glad that this source of bad smelling, cheap aftershave was gone. The smell had irritated him to no end.

"Wark!" Glad that he was gone, Pen-Pen retreated to his fridge for the night.

* * *

_...the next day, class 2-A..._

Mana sighed, when she saw Kensuke sitting depressed at his place in class. Ever since he was told about Toji and Hikari being selected, he was in a deep depression. This was made only worse by the fact that most of his friends weren't available right now, and she on her own hadn't been able to get him out of this dark pit of despair.

It was hard to see Kensuke, who she had seen as being full of life, becoming so quiet. True, he was still speaking with her, but his mood was so low, that it was hard to substain a meaningful conversation. His mood had become so bad, that most of the class avoided him in their own interest, and even the teacher seldomly dared to ask him a question. She really hoped that the others would be back soon, so that they could finally get him out of this.

_Poor guy. Must feel as if he was cheated out of his dream... _she pitied him. _Two more days, then the guys are back. And that's not one day to soon._

Looking around, she knew that Hikari should be back better sooner than two days. Her substitute tried his best to perform his duties, but he simply hadn't the pure will to go through with it, as she did. In result, class discipline had lessened siginficantly. Hikari would have to clean up that mess when she was back.

_Frightening to see how the class slacks off as soon as the drillsargent is away. Hikari will get a stroke when she is back._

She herself was bored out of her mind. With Kensuke depressed and her other friends unavailable, there wasn't much to do. It was strange how fast she had gotten used to them and now had problems to think of what to do in her free time.

_Interesting how fast habits can change..._

Her musings were stopped when the teacher entered, and the class again got a example of the fruitless attempt of the substitute to get through the greeting routine with force. Hikari really would have some words with him when she is back.

* * *

_...at the same time..._

"Any idea what we will do today?" Hikari asked Shinji, while they waited in the elevator until they would reach the cage level where they would get into their entry plugs. It was another training day and they prepared themselves for being sore after it.

"I guess distance weapons. We haven't done this yet, but its a part of what I had to do when they put me through the same. That's actually the least difficult part of it," Shinji guessed. It had made them wonder why they hadn't used the virtual shooting range sooner, as it was quite a useful training for concentration.

"Aren't guns almost useless against Angels?" Toji asked. After all he was told, this seemed only logical.

Asuka snorted, it seemed the jock hadn't been at attention when Dr. Akagi had explained some of the things about the Angels. "Idiot, they are useful, if we catch it with its pants down."

Rei by now knew what this figure of speech meant, otherwise she would have pointed out that the Angels weren't wearing pants at all. She however added more in detail: "If the EVA units manage to neutralise the AT-field of an Angel, it is possible to damage it with ranged weapons, provided the Angel itself is not armoured enough to withstand the projectiles and beams."

"How often did this work?" Hikari added.

"One time, against the anarchid-shaped Angel," Rei answered. When she got a blank look as an answer, she wondered what was so unclear about her answer.

Shinji decided to help out. "She means the one that looked like a spider. Rei, please try not to use scientific terms, not everyone knows them. Try to keep it understandable for everyone."

Rei understood. Not everyone was versed in these terms, so she would have to keep it simple. "Understood, Shinji."

"You have the speech patterns of a robot," Asuka needled. Hearing Rei using stiff formulations many times, she felt that this girl simply was an idiot.

"Stop picking on Rei!" Shinji threatened, feeling sick by now, that Asuka still used almost every chance to belittle Rei. "I have it up to here with you insulting her at every chance. So shut up and stay this way! Unlike others I have no problem with giving you a good slap as reminder."

Asuka's eyes thinned to dangerous slits and her face threatened to become as red as her plugsuit from her anger at Shinji daring to threaten her. Then she felt Hikari's hand on her shoulder. "Don't..." she warned her. "Starting a fight won't get you anywhere."

Grumbling, Asuka went to the other end of the elevator, as far away from Shinji and Rei as possible. She would let it go...for now. She would give Shinji a piece of her mind later at home. She wouldn't let this stand.

Toji couldn't surpress a snicker. It was always good to see the red devil being put into her place. Telling 'her majesty' that she wasn't anmore the absolute queen, that was something not to be missed.

Finally the elevator had reached the catwalk, and the group split in two directions to reach their units. Rei and Shinji walked towards their units, when Rei stopped. "Rei? Is something wrong?" Shinji asked, when she looked him into the eyes. Her red eyes seemed to piece easily into is inner being.

Suddenly Rei pulled his head to hers, kissing him. Shinji was surprised for a second, but then surrendered to her nice surprise attack. When she let go of him, she had on this beautiful angelic smile he had found to like so much. "Woah...Rei..that was nice. For what was this?"

"It was to thank you for defending me. It makes me feel so warm to see you care for me," Rei told him, not losing her smile.

"It...was the least I could do, I won't allow Asuka to insult you and your honor... You mean much to me... You know I wondered where we will be in some time, since we are both very fond of each other..."

"You wonder if we will have sexual intercourse in the future?" she asked, not finding anything wrong with spelling it out.

Shinji's cheeks reddened a bit. "I...wouldn't have said it so bluntly. But yes... We are both still quite young...I feel that I'm not ready yet. And I wouldn't do anything of that sort as long as you don't want it, too. It has to be something we both want." Shinji really meant it. While alone the idea of him and Rei having sex was making him so aroused that it hurt while wearing the plugsuit, he felt that both of them were not ready for this, with them only being close to 15.

Now it was Rei's turn for red cheeks. Shinji was so careful with her, always putting her before himself. It was one of his best traits, that he never wanted to force through his wishes against her. The idea of her and Shinji being intimate...was causing strong reactions within her, reactions that felt quite...beautiful. But yet there was something else. Something she rarely felt. She was a little scared of it. No she propably also wasn't ready for it, yet.

"I agree. This is not the right time for a sexual relationship," Rei agreed with him. "Not yet."

"I'm glad that you made this decision... When I met you the first time, you found it very difficult to decide something. You have grown so much since then, proving that you are not only a beautiful, but also a very smart girl, who can grow to something wonderful..." Shinji told her, before leading her further along the catwalk.

Rei couldn't help but to become red when hearing these words from him. It simply happened, she had no control over it. She didn't know why it happened, the blood was simply shooting into her face, her pale skin making her strong blush even more prominent. That had been one of the most wonderful things she had been ever told. And it was not extarrergated. She had changed much in the almost half a year since Shinji had arrived.

She felt...alive.

* * *

_...half an hour later..._

"I heared you and Ryoji had a wild date yesterday. Hope you used protection," Ritsuko commented when she saw Misato entering the control room overlooking the training facility. Either Misato had overslept, or she had been swamped by paperwork at her desk, that were the only two resons for her coming late.

"That's none of your business! And nothing like that happened!" Misato snapped. She might like to tease others, but Ritsuko's comment was too close to home for her taste.

"Do I hear a unspoken 'yet'?" she asked further, never losing her professional attitude while checking the data stream.

Misato had no idea how Ritsuko managed to keep her cool demanor while making these comments on the expense of other people. She was in no mood to argue with her, so she simply tried to forget it. "How is it going?"

"So far, so good. All of them are right now busy at the shooting range." Pushing a button, the VR scenario of the EVAs shooting at moving targets shaped like various Angels, appeared. It looked bizarre to see Evangelions using a huge-sized shooting range like the ones the military used. Virtual Reality sometimes was really weird.

"That's something you don't see every day..." Misato commented.

"They are boosting their sych-ratio this way, while getting practise. What could we want more for?" She then returned her attention to the raw data, reading it like a book that was only gibberish for Misato.

"Rits, about that experiment next week... do we really have to do that?" Misato asked, changing the topic.

Ritsuko rolled her eyes. She should have expected this question. Tearing herself away from the screen, she looked to Misato. "Look...we need it as a basis. Without it we can't start working on the auto-pilot... And don't think I enjoy it. We have actually tried to_ reduce _the awkwandness for them, sorry, but there isn't more we can do than we have already done."

Misato sighed, letting herself fall into one of the empty controllers seats. She could already see herself recieving the fallout, especially from Asuka.

* * *

_...later that day, office of Gendo..._

"Everything is going smoothly. The new pilots have proven to be of worth, their training showing good results. Of course their synch-ratios and familarity haven't developed as fast as the ones of the Third Child, but this was to be expected," Ritsuko reported to Gendo.

Actually it hadn't come to them as a surprise at all. The theory that the older the pilot the better the result wasn't a total lie, a more developed mind really was better suited for piloting. However, this really had only been proven now. It had been a gamble. Ritsuko knew why Shinji got that good results, much better than Toji and Hikari, despite starting as late as they did. Actually it was a relief that random pilots were able to pilot the units.

Asuka and Shinji had connections to their units. She knew what Rei was partly made of, so there was also no question why it worked. But Toji and Hikari were the fist two pilots that had no connection at all to their units until they started piloting. Units-03 and 04 were different, that much she knew, their improvements were the result of the first two...accidents. They were no longer dangerous to the pilot, but they had never tested if they would work with some random pilot. Thankfully, it did work.

"Exactly. Since this is cleared, what about the start of the dummy plug program?" Gendo asked further.

"We have decided to place the procedure for the first data gathering directly after being done with the system upgrade and the new hardware we plan to install. This way, we can also test the new equipment. This means we will start in six days according to our time table," Ritsuko reported further.

"Very good, proceed as you planned," Gendo dismissed her.

While leaving, Dr. Akagi couldn't help but to wonder if there was more to Unit-00. Only Rei's connection to Lilith couldn't be enough to make it tick, right? While the problem was solved with the new units, she had no data on Unit-00. It was a mystery that made her wonder often.

_Either I grow paranoid, or someone wants to keep me away from something important... _she thought, while walking down the corridor.

Back in the office, the Vice-Commander, who had been silent until now, started to talk with Gendo. "Everything is going well, yet I feel that something lurks to make us fall."

"Our enemies are always on the jump, so we always have to be prepared. It is the way of the world, that always the worst happens," Gendo said calmly.

"What about the lance? We can't store it much longer at its current place before attracting attention," Fuyutsuki asked further. He felt unwell with that thing near. It had been one of the instruments of Second Impact, so that came naturally. "Have we found a more safe place for it?"

"Yes, the comitee has decided on it, and I won't go against it. Rei is already putting it into place at my order." The Commander seemed unconcerned that he hadn't cleared this with Fuyutsuki, as if that wasn't important. "It will serve its purpose again, but this time in our interest."

Fuyutsuki lost a little color, when he realised what Gendo exactly meant with this. _I hope you know what you are doing... or we will have a enmormous disaster at our hands!_

* * *

_...deep under the geofront..._

The huge doors opened, revealing Unit-00, holding a strange looking lance in its hands. Inside the plug, Rei tried to look neutral, but she still hadn't forgotten the nightmare she had some weeks ago. The picture of the seven eyes had haunted her several times in her sleep since then, only that these times, it was her own memory conjuring these frightening pictures. She tried to go through her assignment cool and professionally, but instead she felt...anger, when looking at the big being nailed at the huge cross, bleeding from a wound in her stomach.

For Rei, being angry was so unfamilar. She wanted to get over with it as fast as possible. She didn't want to be near Lilith for too long. All the emotions she conjured otherwise threatened to overwhelm her. Unit-00 walked in front of Lilith. Suddenly she raised her head, the seven eyes staring at her!

_**"So, you have finally come, bastard child of mine!" **_The voice was loud and vibrated through every cell of Rei's body. It hurt. _**"Don't be surprised... I might be weak, but strong enough to speak!"**_

"I am not your child." Rei tried to stay calm. That was the first time ever, that Lilith had spoken. She would have to report this as fast as possible. Lilith had always been inactive. It seemed that she came at the last moment to conduct this operation.

_**"I hear the voice of denial. You were made without my consent. And I will destroy you..." **_The voice now felt as if it was cutting through her. Rei's body was screaming that this hurt, there part of her that was made from Lilith was flooded with agony. _**"My time will be soon."**_

"I am here to stop you." This resulted in a laugh from Lilith that caused Rei to lose control over certain body functions. Thankfully the plugsuit was designed with such an accident in mind, thus it was contained. It was as if Lilith's voice was making the Angel DNA within her take over briefly, as if Lilith tried to remote control her, resulting in her briefly losing control.

_**"Ha ha ha ha! You think you can stop me?" **_Lilith mockingly asked her.

"Yes." Holding the lance in front of her, she heared Lilith stop laughing.

_**"Curse you!"**_ she spat, recognising the lance. She wouldn't have thought that she would see that thing again after all this time. Not after she had used it on him.

Then Rei slammed the lance exactly between her breasts. Lilith screamed, while in seconds, her legs and lower body withered away, leaving her only as a half being. It seemed the she also had lost so much strength, that she was unable to speak anymore.

Without saying another word, Rei ordered Unit-00 to leave the room. Lilith was not dead, but she now no longer would be a danger, regardless what she had been planning. Her mask of indifference returned, but in the inside, Rei felt deeply troubled by this confrontation. Lilith didn't even have to move, to make her feel pain, trying to use her like a puppet.

She was deathly afraid of Lilith, something she had thought impossible for her to feel. It was a very unpleasant emotion for her, and she didn't want to feel it again. She hoped that she never again would have to enter this room.

She now only wanted to get home, be embraced by Shinji. Him holding her had the effect of making her feel safe. And that was what she needed now.

Lilith was barely aware now, the pain overwhelming. But her anger at her bastard child was now burning brighter than ever. But if they thought that this would stop her, then they were gravely wrong. Nothing would stop her plan from coming to frution. Even if they destroyed all others, she knew of one, that would manage to come through.

_**I WILL finish what I started, **_she silently growled, then channelled all her remaining power into this task.

_**to be continued...**_

(1) in German, "Ja ja" means as much as "Kiss my ass".

_**Next Episode:**_

_**"Iruel- Part I"**_


	18. Iruel Part 1

I will say these things in advance: I have absolutely no rights at NGE, but you should have already known that.

The story itself is basically a re-telling of the original storyline, but twisted into my way. While at the beginning there seem to be only few divigances, it will become more with each episode. The people, their motivations and the backgrounds are while holding true to the basic layout, changed at my imagination in many details, so canon-purists now are allowed to flame me.

NOTE: I hate both, the ending of the TV series, and how End of Evangelion turned out. So don't expect any of those outcomes.

This is Shinji/Rei. If you wonder why I go on a certain sequence with MUCH more detail... Well, I'm a little sadistic, aren't I? And guess who I modeled Iruel after...

For all the work I put into this, I would like to get reviews. I will always try to respond to every review I get.

* * *

**Chapter 17: Iruel- Part 1**

"Would have never thought that a system upgrade would mean that much work. Good thing that we are not one of the tech-department, these guys must think of unionising to get extra pay for this," Lt. Aoba commented to Lt. Hyuga, while checking if these wire-guys had ruined the programming of his workstation.

"And never thought that it would mean that much programming and paperwork, just look what a chaos this here still is," Makoto added, looking around the bridge.

It was really a organised chaos on the bridge level. It was still a puzzle of wires, removed old hardware, folders with the paperwork that came with it, disks and a number of coffee mugs. Coffee being the most sought stuff from the work crew. But surprisingly they were in time and almost done, the last updates being done to the central MAGI computers right now. But of course they would need some time before the mess would be cleaned up. The new hardware however was already showing that it would speed up things significantly. So the upgrade was worth the time and chaos it had caused.

Then Hyuga spotted the most important piece of equipment on their level. "But they didn't abduct the coffee-machine however, so I can live with it... Poor guys, they had to do it with a schedule in their neck, because of the experiment tomorrow, and Dr. Akagi breathing down their necks."

"Yeah, wonder how Maya manages to be her assistent? I would have gone bonkers," Shigeru mused, looking to the other side of that level.

There, Dr. Akagi was busy with the checklist, while watching Lt. Ibuki from time to time putting together the new access portal connecting the computers to the data storage, programming as easy as if she was writing a letter. "You are getting better and faster with each day, Maya. That's good," she commented, interrupting her work for a moment.

"I only put to use what you thaught me, Sempai," she answered, a little absent since she was occupied to make sure that she wouldn't mistype accidently. But nonetheless she felt great that she got praised by Ritsuko, her mentor.

Looking at the screen, Ritsuko noticed something. "Wait, script A-8 would be more effective. Just a second..." Walking to the workstation, she typed so fast that Maya had problems to follow, working at least six times as fast as her.

Maya sighed when she saw how fast Ritsuko was. "I will never reach this level..."

"Don't say this. I had been once where you are now, too," Ritsuko tried to encourage her, then saw Misato entering their bridge level, looking around as if seeing a disaster area. "No, don't say anything. We will be done within the hour, all right?" Ritsuko said in a slightly annoyed voice.

Misato held up her hands in defense. "Ok, ok! I'm silent. Since you people are doing all the work anyway, I shouldn't complain." Misato then spotted a full coffe mug, deciding that she needed a little caffeine boost. "Ahhh, exactly what I need!"

"I wouldn't do that in your place..." Ritsuko commented with a side glance, while marking off things on her clipboard. "It's cold for three hours now..." she added when seeing Misato's lips already making contact with the mug, "...and I dumped a cigarette into it."

**"Pfffffääättsch!"**Misato barely managed to spit out the disgusting stuff. Alone the idea of cold, nicotine saturated coffee was disgusting. "You could have warned me!"

"I think I did..." Right then the display showing the three MAGI went fully green, and it was announced that everything was back to fully capacity. "You see, right in time."

"I will never get out how you people are doing that. Well, I'm gone then. I still have some admininstrative stuff to do, and I don't plan to come home soon today, I don't want to spend too much time with the children right now.

"I won't comment on it, since I know that you will get the verbal abuse in the aftermath..." remarked, guessing that Misato would get the full Asuka-treatment for tomorrow. Good thing that she herself lived alone, Ritsuko thought.

"Har har, just continue to make fun of my situation!" Misato said sulkingly, then left Ritsuko alone.

_Misato, you should really work on your understanding of humor. You shouldn't dish out so often when you can't take even a little as this. _Ritsuko then turned her attention to her crew. "All right, people, we deserve some break time."

Some mintues later, Ritsuko was washing her face in the female's lavatory room, deep in thoughts.

_Everything is working fine, as always. And her...her copy is also in best condition, so why do I feel so strange... Why couldn't you be here in person?_

Ritsuko remembered the day they had told her that her mother Naoko Akagi had died because of an accident. She had fallen into the cleaning fluid in the EVA cage. Since that stuff was still murderous back then, it had literally melted away her body, so there had been nothing left of her.

Ritsuko had been deeply shocked by these news. Sure, they hadn't been on good terms, but her mother at least gave her the respect she deserved for her work, when she walked in her steps and showed how good she would be one day, althrough even today she hadn't achived the level her mother had reached.

And now nothing was left of her, apart from that "copy" she had created. _I hadn't even the chance to say goodbye to her. Even she didn't deserve such an end._

Ritsuko knew that brooding over the past wouldn't help her. Nothing could bring her back now, she was gone forever. But it made her remember that her mother's last project had been to finally make Unit-00 work, rather than merly exist as the proof that an EVA could be created. Somehow she had made it work shortly before her death, so that was her legacy.

_And she took her secret of how she had done it into the grave...We can only hope the Unit will never completely break down, because we'll have no idea how to make it tick again._

* * *

_...the next day..._

"Wonder how long we still have to wait..." Toji said without patience, pacing.

Shinji couldn't blame him for becoming impatient, they were waiting for over ten minutes now at the locked elevator door. They were told to wait for the elevator and wondered why they couldn't call it themselves. Actually everyone had been rather tight-lipped about today, something he by now found disturbing.

Rei was waiting in silence, while Asuka was busy with staring at the indicator, hoping that it would finally signal its arrival. She felt that she was wasting her valuable time with waiting. Hikari leaned against the wall, in thoughts.

Most likely about how it had went with their attempt to get Kensuke out of his depression. Mana hadn't joked about the intensity. And actually they hadn't managed to get him out of it, but Toji's hard comments that he should finally stop his self-pity at least had some effect in him stopping the worst of it. But to actually make him feel better, no they had no idea how to do that.

The silence was broken when the intercom was activated. "Sorry for the wait, something came up. The elevator will arrive soon. Enter it, and I will explain what is to do, since this test will be different from the usual ones." That was the voice of Lt. Ibuki.

Some seconds later, the elevator opened and it looked like it's interitor had been totally altered. Instead of the usual elevator that was one big cabin, metal walls seperated it into five smaller ones. Also instead of the usual big exit door on the other end were five smaller ones.

"That's a new one," Shinji wondered, looking at the elevator. "One for everyone of us. Wonder what they plan now? Rei, any ideas?"

"None. I have never seen the configuration before," Rei answered, also wondering what this test could include. Her awakened curiosity was peaking right now.

The intercom turned on again. "Children, each of you goes into one of these."

They did as told, and as soon as they were inside, the door shut, and the elevator started its descend. To their surprise, they still could hear each other. It seemed that the seperated parts were still connected over intercom.

"All right children, now I will explain to you today's experiment. In order to get the best results and cleanest data for the auto-pilot project, we have to read the harmonics data without interference directly from your bodies, meaning that you will have to strip completely naked after leaving the elevator," Maya explained further.

"Whaaaat?" Asuka almost screamed, her protest clear in her voice. She felt as if her already bad day was becoming worse.

"You can't be serious!" Hikari protested. She still had her fitting procedure in memory, she really had no desire to go through something like that again.

They could hear a sigh over the intercom. It seemed that Maya wasn't wishing this on them, but had little other choice. "The next chamber is an ultra-clean room environment. Just taking a shower and changing into your plugsuit is insufficient. Sorry, but there is little other choice if we want this to be a success."

"This is embarrassing!" Toji finally blurted. He felt as if he had ended up in a bad dream.

"I know how you feel, trust me. We've done anything possible to make it less embarrassing, but there is only so much we can do," Maya patiently explained to him.

Asuka wasn't impressed by this explanation in the slightest. "Why do we have to go through all this, for a dumb auto-pilot test?" she asked, crossing her arms.

"We have to keep up with the Angels, so every advantage on our side is welcome." Finally the elevator arrived, and the doors opened, each only leading to another small room (which looked more like a coffin) with a storage box built into the floor. "I'll coach you through everything. Now please take off the plugsuits and connectors, and put them into the box. You can get them from here when we are done. Please say when you are done, since we **do** respect your privacy, so there are no cameras, only motion sensors... And please follow along with that, sulking won't get you anywhere."

"Great..." Shinji groaned. That really made his day. He knew that Misato must have known this, so he would have a talk with her later. Lt. Ibuki at least seemed to understand the pressure on the children and tried be nice to them during the hardships, propably the reason why she and not Dr. Akagi was guiding them through this.

Still, all of them felt quite exposed while stripping down. At least the air was warm, so they didn't feel cold. Asuka swore in German. Shinji did understand some pieces of it, he heared it often enough, and it proved to be quite colorful and sometimes anatomically impossible. She used the connectors to hold her hair in place and now she complained that it was in a disarry. Toji grumbled, while Hikari muttered under her breath how unfair life sometimes is. Rei said nothing, but a rosy tint on her cheeks was answer enough. And Shinji felt that this should be better worth it.

Finally all five of them were naked and said so.

"Good. Behind the next door is the decontamination facility. Think of it as an extra strong and thorough shower with some other things mixed in for a heavy cleaning process. Because for this experiment, we need to get you cleaner than just clean," Maya explained.

"Eh... This sounds intimidating. Is it really safe?" Toji asked her.

"Don't worry. At worst it will be a little bit unpleasant, but it won't hurt and is completely harmless." The doors opened, revealing to each of them a room almost similar to the current one, only that there were gadgets built into the walls and it had a drain on the floor. "Please walk into it, and I will explain further." Maya waited until the doors had closed behind them, before she explained further. "The cleaning will go through 17 stages. Keep your eyes and mouth closed, all right? I will warn you each time before the next stage starts. Are you ready?"

All of them said yes. "Good! then prepare for stage one!"

Eyes and mouth closed shut, they waited for what would come. Suddenly they were blasted from all directions with scalding hot, ultra-pure water mixed with disinfectant. And blasted really meant at very high velocity. Thankfully it was a fine spray, so it really didn't hurt, only the temperature was uncomfortable. After thirty seconds, the spray suddenly shut off.

"Prepare for stage two!"

Seconds later they were hit with strong streams of hot air, drying them off. After another thirty seconds, it shut off, leaving them completely dry.

"Prepare for stage three!"

They were blasted with water again, but this time it was only lukewarm, and mixed into it was some kind of soap solution, since foam started to build so heavily that they felt it. That went on for thirty seconds, but the spray didn't stop when Maya announced the next stage.

"Prepare for stage four!"

Shinji heared whirring sounds from above and seconds later felt what that was. Downscaled carwash-style rotating brushes working on him on front and aft. Shinji had to admit that while this was not a great way to preserve his dignity, it didn't hurt. The brushes were made of thin foam rubber strips, so soft that the constant slapping against his skin actually only tickled a little.

Hearing all three girls slightly groaning (as much as that was possible with a closed mouth) when the front brush reached his chest, he tried to find something else for his mind to occupy, even more when it was his turn to groan a little later. The brushes needed a full minute to wash them from first head to toe, and then reverse.

"Prepare for stage five!"

They felt that the stuff they were sprayed with changed. It was still warm water, but from the smell they would have first guessed industrial cleaner mixed into it. But since it felt totally harmless, they guessed that it was a specially created strong cleaning agent for humans. Like the last spray, it didn't stop after 30 seconds.

"Prepare for stage six!"

They heared the brushes again, but the whirring was now much higher pitched, meaning that this would be the intense cleaning. Of course the much higher rotation rate also meant much more stimuli, and the whole cleaning sequence took two whole minutes this time.

_I was right, this IS a human-sized car-wash! _Toji crused mentally, while trying to stay relaxed.

They were all greatly relieved when the brushes finally again disappeared in the ceiling and the spray stopped.

"Prepare for stage seven!"

The scalding water blasting spray was repeated, this time for a whole minute. But after the tough wash they just got through, that was actually relaxing.

"Prepare for stage eight!"

An air drying followed.

"Prepare for stage nine!"

The water blasting was this time at normal temperatures. It actually didn't feel much different from a normal shower, apart from the high velocity of the water. Through it was still somewhat awkwand to go through the human-sized car-wash, at least it really wasn't too bad (through they weren't gunning for this ever again).

"Prepare for stage ten!"

Yet another air drying. Slowly they wondered if this would be repeated for several more times. At least it would mean that they had the worst behind themselves by now.

"Prepare for stage eleven!"

Another hot-water blasting followed, like the ones before.

"Prepare for stage twelve!"

Asuka yelped, when they were suddenly hit with freezing cold water instead of hot one from all directions. "Scheiße!" she yelled, before closing her mouth, the desinfectant tasting awful. And when the blasting went on, she started to clatter with her teeth, so cold she felt. The others didn't fare better, and even Rei grimaced when feeeling the freezing water hitting her. Finally, after a long minute, the cold spray stopped.

"Prepare for stage thirteen!"

This time it was something different they were blasted with. It was a liquid that really, really itched on the skin. Obviously some kind of desinfectant, albeit a really strong one. And it started to build a layer over their skin. They thanked all gods, when that stage finally ended.

"Prepare for stage fourteen!"

They were again blasted with hot air, but it didn't make the itching go away, as if this stuff was glued on their skin like an outer layer. It was by now really uncomfortable.

"The next stage is a special U.V.-radiation. No, it won't cause cancer, but keep your eyes closed if you don't want to go blind. The desinfactant is on your skin for this stage. So, prepare for stage fifteen!"

At once they were bombared with ultra-strong U.V.-radiation, which literally killed every microbe on their body in combination with the desinfectant. The radiation actually lasted full three minutes before it was shut off.

"Prepare for stage sixteen!"

Again they were blasted with scalding hot water. But this time it was a blessing, since it washed away the desinfectant and they were temped to sigh in relief when the itching finally vanished. Also this was pure water, designed to wash all remaining chemicals away.

"Prepare for the final stage!"

Blasted with hot air, they were dried.

"You have done well, kids. Our sensors measure zero contamination on you. Wait a moment, and the door to the next room will open," Maya said to them, and the doors opened seconds later. It was almost the same as the first room, only this one had no seperating walls, only smoked glass screens to cover everying between knees and shoulders to save their modesty from each other.

Shinji felt uncomfortable. To be naked together with a naked Rei, Hikari AND Asuka... And why did he hear the theme of Mortal Kombat in his head? He saw the look Asuka gave him. A good warning not to dare anything, or he would get bruises, while she herself was more angry than embarrassed. Rei was actually blushing heavily, her recently found sense of modesty was rebelling at being in so close quartes in a naked, gender-mixed group. Shinji found this blush actually real cute. Toji really wished to be somewhere else now. Having a angry, naked Asuka to his right was bad. But having the girl he felt so much for also naked at his left...he had to use every ounce of control he had. Hikari was trying to look at the closed door, but she caught herself looking to Toji. And while the whole thing was prime to be forgotten as fast as possible, she couldn't help to like the little she saw of him.

"Oh, verdammt nochmal! My hair is totally out of shape now..." Asuka complained, feeling through her hair. "I really hope this is worth it."

"Your hair? What about our dignity? I swear if that ever leaves this circle..." Hikari groaned, while making clear that this would be never told to anyone. She had no desire to have insult added to injury.

The doors opened, revealing a long, white hallway. Thankfully the dry air was very warm so their nudity wasn't uncomfortable... only embarrassing. Also there was no smell at all, contributing to the fact that this was a ultra-clean room. "All right, you are almost in your test plugs, you only have to walk through this hallway to reach them."

"You expect us to walk through this hallway, **naked for the others to see**? That are at least 100 meters," Hikari protested, that was finally too much for her.

Another voice answered her protest, it was Misato. "All these protests bring us nowere..." she said, sounding slightly unnerved.

"Oh, Misato! I bet you knew from the beginning! Wait until we are home..." Asuka let the threat hang in the air. She succeeded in so far that Misato didn't say anything more.

Maya obviously also seemed annoyed that Misato had interfered. "Ok, I will leave it to you how you will do it with the least exposure. We have modified the visual recorders in the plugs, so we only see an vague outline of you, glowing in all kinds of colors, thus preserving your modesty. We wait until you are all in your plugs." With that said, she cut the connection and the stall doors opened.

"Uhhhmm...all right, maybe we all turn around, and then one goes at a time, and calls when entering the plug?" Shinji suggested. It was the best that came to his mind. And it would serve to save them from more embarrassment.

"Finally a good idea from your side!" Asuka mocked, but since she had no other idea, she guessed that this would be the best they could do. Asuka went first at her own insistence, followed by Hikari, who couldn't wait to be alone in her current state of undress, then Toji, whose nervousness at this was quite visible. Finally only Rei and Shinji were left.

"Rei, you go first," Shinji offered.

"Thank you Shinji, for respecting my...modesty." While walking out of her stall, she added, "However, I won't be angered if you look, since it doesn't make me uncomfortable if it's you doing it."

_Has she suddenly found a liking to teasing me? _Shinji wondered. He resisted the temptation for some moments, but then it got the better of him and he turned his head to see Rei walking down the hallway, getting a perfect view of her also perfect butt in motion. Finally her berated himself for acting like this, and looked to the door, waiting for Rei to call him to come.

* * *

_...two hours later..._

"You do good. Another hour, and we are done," Ritsuko told the pilots, while watching the data they gathered from the EVA test bodies, EVA hulks without head or legs swimming in a giant water tank. So far, the experiment was a full success for them. With all the raw data, they would have a good start with the dummy-plug system.

"Good, because I wouldn't manage more than another hour," Asuka remarked. She in particular disliked the feeling of LCL creeping into every bit of her body, something that normally was prevented by the plugsuit. At least they had been spared anymore embarrassment after entering their test plugs.

Misato was a little bored, apart from the data feeding, she mostly was there to keep the children from getting bored themselves, since they only sporadically had something to do, most of the time they simply had to be present and let their brains work. It had been surprising about how many trivial matters they already had talked about, and how the children had made her promise to make up for saying nothing to them (what she had planned to do anyway). Then Misato noticed something on one of the screens.

"Wait a moment kids... Hey, Ritsuko? How comes that the three MAGI are debating right now what the right solution is? Aren't they computers?" Misato called.

"They are computers, yes. But when my mother constructed them, she thought it would be best to give each of them a certain personality trait of hers. Thus why we sometimes have them being unable to decide at once. We learned to live with it," Ritsuko told her.

Meanwhile on the main bridge, three men were talking about a different problem.

"Are you absolutely sure about that?" Fuyutsuki asked Lt. Aoba, looking at the result of the scan. Another problem was the last they needed now.

"Absolutely, at maximum magnification, it's easy to see. That's the parts we had installed three days ago. That's definitely new. But what could these dark spots on the wall be?" Shigeru wondered, showing him the anomaly on the screen of his workstation.

"Most likely corrosion. My feed shows me that these parts are cooler than the rest of the wall and less conductive. And actually that the wall shows these signs doesn't wonder me, considering the questionable way that part of the base was built," Lt. Hyuga added, not holding back his less favorable opinion on that part of the HQ.

Shigeru remembered, and this made the whole thing clear. "Yes, they had to finish that part two months ahead of schedule. It's really no wonder then, the whole B wing is sloppy constructed and prone to damage."

"And this hasty construction now comes back to haunt us. Grim thought, considering that NERV is there to save mankind." Makoto found is bizarre that the saviours of the world would have to solve problems like cheaply built walls.

"No wonder. They had finished it after the Angel attacks already started." The Vice-Commander wasn't happy with the results of the hasty finishing of their HQ, but that couldn't be helped now. "Inform Dr. Akagi of the problem, we need to have that repaired within a day, or Ikari won't be amused at all." He had no desire that Ikari would swamp him with more irrelevant work only because he felt that the progress of the experiment was carelessly threatened.

Two minutes later...

"Alright...yes, we will take care of it after we are done..." Dr. Akagi then hung up the phone.

"Problems?" Misato asked.

Ritsuko nodded. "Just another example of shoddy construction, there is corrosion in the wall above us. We have to drain the water after we are done, to repair it. We shouldn't have brought this cheap..."

**"ALERT!"**

"Dr. Akagi! The corrosion suddenly literally explodes! It is literally burning through the wall!" Maya hectically reported.

"DAMN! Abort! Seal all water pipes!" Ritsuko cursed. Now the cheap construction of this part of the base was biting them into their asses. She felt they should sue their contractor.

"They are sealed, but it is no use! The corrosion spreads further...and it's coming directly towards this water tank!"

"Ready the lasers, we have to burn it off as soon as it enters the tank!" Ritsuko ordered.

It wasn't too early, because already dark spots grew on one part of the white wall, followed by orange glowing ones. The lasers at once fired to get rid of this corrosion... However, the so-called corrosion had other plans, when suddenly groups of white glowing octogons appeared, simply deflecting the laser beams.

_**Ha ha ha ha ha ha...**_

Misato looked in horror at it. "An AT-field? Great Gods..." And her fear was proved a second later, when the Angel alarm went off.

"A blue wavelength pattern! That's an Angel invading the water tank!" one of the technicans called.

"Get the children out of there!" Ritsuko called.

At once the plugs were forcibly jettisoned out of the test bodies and through a temporary open hatch into the geofront lake. They were shot out with so much force, the children had no time to ask questions, before the sheer pressure made them black out. But bad news followed fast...

**"Attention! Central Dogma will be sealed down! Contamination is spreading!"**And as if to underline it, the whole tank was suddenly flooded with the orange glowing particles of the Angel.

"LOOK OUT!" one of the technicans screamed, when suddenly the lasers turned towards the observation window.

"Get out of here, fast!" Misato screamed, and they left the room in a hurry, just managing to seal off the door, before the lasers opened fire, flooding the control room with water after destroying the window.

The whole NERV HQ was sealed off in a matter of seconds, but the alert was shut off, and everything became silent as a grave.

"All right, Sir. Alerts are shut off, the comitee thinks this was a error from our side, and the EVAs are in the geofront, safe from contamination," Lt. Aoba reported to Gendo, who had entered the bridge as soon as the alert had went off.

"But the Angel is still spreading slowly over the confines of the testing chamber. Nothing seems to stop it," Lt. Hyuga added.

"Question is, how can we battle something like this?" the Vice-Commander wondered. "Even if the EVAs were available, they couldn't go against this enemy..." They were used to huge monstrosities. But something like that...

Down in the testing chamber, the Angel Iruel laughed cruelly. It had been almost too easy for her to enter the fortress of the Lilim, these insects simply overlooked the most obvious. Setting down on all electronic surfaces with her many bodies, she started to carefully analyse the system architecture to calculate the best mode of attack, since she knew, she lacked the physical apperance to save her father from his prison.

_**S-stupid Lilim...how can you-u insects even dare to do thissss to our father? Stupid a-a-and overconfident, not knowing theirrr place... **_she ranted in her distorted inner voice while going on with her task. She was a lot like her deceased brother Ramiel, in that she was calculating and mostly cold as a fish. But added to it was a big layer of sheer disgust at the Lilim.

* * *

_...some minutes later..._

"It has adapted to our attack...It has evolved. Astounding!" Makoto remarked, when seeing the Angel growing again.

They had tried to exploit the Angel's seeming weakness against ozone to destroy it by pouring it into the water. And at first it had seemed as if it was working. But to their surprise, the Angel had suddenly started to absorb the ozone, using it to grow faster, forcing them to cut the supply and bringing them back to square one in the process.

And now the Angel seemed to want to return the favor.

**-EEEHT- -EEEHT- -EEEHT-**

"Someone is trying to break into the databank computer!" Shigeru shouted while trying to strengthen the firewalls. "The hacker is simply breaking through the firewalls!"

"I try to trace it... It's coming from...it is coming from the Angel!" Makoto called, hectically trying to close the data lines, but to no avail. Then, when the Angel suddenly changed on the screen... "Look! The growing lines are like electrical circuits. The Angel is a computer itself!"

"The Angel is breaking the passwords! Too late, it is in the databank, starting to read our files! It's starting to break the deeper passwords!" Maya called stressed. She was horrified how easy it seemed for the Angel to simply waltz into their systems. "We can't shut down the databank!"

"Cut it pysically off!" Misato ordered.

"Stay back!" Shigeru called, grabbing an emergency axe. Opening a floor panel, he revealed the thick data cable connecting the databank with the other systems. One strong hit and sparks flew. "It's cut off!"

But the relief was only short, because suddly another alert went off. "Oh no! Now it is aiming for the MAGI!" Makoto called.

"Shut down the MAGI at once," Gendo ordered. He had no desire to have the Angel take over the MAGI, especially since it couldn't be isolated, the three computers were rooted to deeply in the system. Sure, the really important stuff wasn't saved on any of these computers, but only on totally seperate ones in his office, but one could never know.

Shigeru and Makoto put the emergency keys into the shutdown-locks, and turned them... But nothing happened. "The Angel has already taken over the circuits, it bridges our command!"

"The Angel is breaching into computer Melchior!...It's starting...no, it has taken over Melchior, reprogramming it!" Maya called. Suddenly they were interrupted when the system announced:

**"Self-destruction suggested by AI Melchior. Rejection, rejection, rejection..."**

"Now it is hacking into Balthazar!"

"Let me!" Ritsuko wasted no time to storm to the programming console for the MAGI. Hammering the keys as fast as she could, she raced against the clock, as the indicator showed the Angel starting to take over the second MAGI computer, as if it was no problem for it at all.

"Eat this!" she shouted to no one in particular, activating her own commands, and the progress of the Angel slowed down to a meager crawl. "I've done it...now the Angel can only use a single, slow gateway for the attack...that should give us some time."

_**"Tsk, tsk, tsk...n-now this is rudeee."**_

"Who was that?" Fuyutsuki wondered. The voice clearly came out of the com-systems.

The big main screen turned to static. Out of the static a metallic looking female face emerged, green lines leaving it into all directions while her eyes glowed in a sick green. The face looked at them with disgust. _**"L-l-look at yourselves, Lilim...Puny cr-creatures trying to avoooid the unavoidable... How c-can insects like you even t-think of trying to stop a perrrrfect being like me?" **_The voice was distorted and stuttering at times, but yet left terror in the hearts of the weaker-hearted.

Gendo's eyes went thinner when hearing this. Rei had informed him of Lilith speaking, which had been quite alarming, since it really proved the intelligence of the Angels. Also she had never before reacted, which had been disturbing even more. And now this Angel mocked them, clearly very intelligent and well aware of its surroundings. There was no way of covering this up, all of the personell was hearing this, meaning that if they should survive this, he had to spin doctor when reporting to the comitee, finding an excuse for the "false alert" earlier.

_**"You can n-not stop meee, me Iruel the s-sister of terrrror! I-I will destoy you foooortess, and-d no one will remember y-y-you, or know your names. Listen to yourrrr system accouncing your end... it will b-be your deathbells, Lilim-inseeeects..." **_Then the screen errupted into static again, when Iruel cut off the connection.

The bridge was silent upon the horrific relevation that the enemy suddenly had gained a face.

* * *

_...some time later in the tactics room..._

"The Angel calling herself Iruel is composed of billions of tiny nano-machines, each not bigger than a microbe. They are analogus to the cells of a body, but they can adapt to every situation at hand. This way, the Angel can adapt herself to every of our attacks. The AT-field prevents us from direct physical attack. It's not strong, but in here, it's like a unbreakable wall," Ritsuko explained to them.

They were all standing around the tactics table, looking at a sematic of one of the tiny nano-machines. The atmosphere was tense. They had less than two hours, for before the Angel calling herself Iruel would manage to blow up the HQ. They were used to fighting huge monstrosities, so this Angel made them wonder how to actually beat it. And the fact that the evil was quite aware of their doings made it even more difficult.

Vice-Commander Fuyutsuki was impressed by the description. "Unbelievable, the Angel is using the concept of evolution itself as a weapon. I would have never thought that the Angels have such powers at their disposal. However, we need a plan how to get rid of this Iruel. Any suggestions?"

"We could stop the self destruction by destoying the infected MAGI. The best way to stop an infection is to destoy the vessel," Misato suggested.

"I'm against this! Should we destroy the MAGI, we would render the whole geofront useless," Ritsuko at once attacked this suggestion. "And the MAGI fall under my responsibility!"

Misato was irritated. "You picked a really great moment to show off your claim."

"This has nothing to do with that! It's because of my carelessness that this happened," Ritsuko admitted.

Misato didn't believe her. "No, it's because you want the reposibility so that you can deal on your own with that problem, depending on no one else..."

"We should return to the problem at hand..." the Vice Commander reminded them.

"I have already thought about this, and after careful observation, the best possibility I see is, to turn the Angel's evolution mechanism against herself," Ritsuko explained to them, bringing up some shematics.

Gendo, who up to now had stayed silent, commented the plan. "Promotion of the evolution... To bring evolution to its logical end, death itself. Can it be done?"

Ritsuko looked confident. "We only have to re-program one of the machines with destructive code, and it would infect all the others in less than a second like cancer, considering the Angel's evolution speed. We can use Casper, the yet uninfected MAGI, to hack the Angel when she enters the program, and insert our own, destructive program. But there is one catch to it..."

"We need to actually allow the Angel to enter the last MAGI, and we have to open all gateways for our own program," Maya added.

"So it is a race against the clock. Proceed with your plan, Dr. Akagi," Gendo decided. This was the best plan they had, and should it work, they would be left with the least damage to their systems. And should they die...well, that would be it.

* * *

_...bridge level, Casper housing..._

The big MAGI was risen from its normal position, revealing all the machinery of its lower parts, a bizarre labyrinth of cables, circuit boards and coolant pipes. Something that hadn't seen the light of the day since the death of its inventor Naoko Akagi. Opening the maintenence hatch at the side, Ritsuko revealed a small tunnel into the innards of the machine, that was plastered with all kinds of notes.

"What are these?" Maya wondered, looking at one of the notes.

"Notes from the developer...basically they show us all the hidden paths built into the OS, and they are one of the best kept secrets of NERV," Ritsuko commented, while crawling into the tunnel. "It will allow us to work much faster."

_Thanks mother...good that you help us now with your foresight... _she silently added. Her mother always had some strange quirks, and one was to leave these kind of notes, in case she forgot something.

It was really a race against the clock.

In less than two hours, the whole level had become a mess of data cables and hastly set up computer terminals, all connected to the innards of the MAGI, while on the screen the slow progress of Iruel in Baltazar was telling them without mercy, that time was limited. Everyone not directly connected to this complicated work was banned from that level.

Misato was assisting Ritsuko, while she tried to get access to the main brain. "I know only little about these. Why are they so special?" Misato asked her, while she was busy with sawing open the brain case.

"Remember the personality transfer OS for the EVAs that was ultimately dropped ? The one that copies a person's personality into a computer system so that they can think partly for themselves. The MAGI use it... Since no one wanted to do the job, my mother did so," Ritsuko explained, while finally revealing the brain.

"You mean her personality is in there?" Misato had never even suspected something like this.

"Actually she split it in three...each one an aspect of her. Scientist, mother and woman, who can have different opinions. She told me she did it on purpose, that human dilemma would make better decisions in the end." She had never told that anyone, but now actually felt so right to reveal this. Maybe she had sat on it for far too long anyway.

"Now I know why you fuss over the MAGI so much," Misato realised.

Ritsuko herself actually wondered that she did so. "Actually I don't know myself, why I do so. I never understood her as a mother, I even despised her as a woman, and we respected each others as scientists. Maybe it's that even as much as we had little in common, I still want to preserve her legacy...All right, we are ready, everything is set."

Suddenly... "The Angel has taken over Baltazar!"

**"Self-destruction is now voted for by the AIs. Self-destruction will be excuted 02sec. after all three are agreed about it."**

"Open the gateway! Let's go!" Ritsuko called to Maya, and both of them started to type as soon as they had access.

"The Angel is invading Casper!" Lt. Hyuga called, the digram showing Iruel's progress. "She has taken over enough to initiate the self-destruction! 20 seconds!"

Ritsuko and Maya hammered the keys as fast as never before to hack into the Angel and destroy her, before she could destroy them. They were sweating heavily, while the sheer pressure made them work at the maximum limit, but they would make it. The HAD to make it.

_**It's n-now only seeeeeconds...yes, I...WHAT? **_Iruel had already prepared for the big bang that would destroy the fortress, and herself with it, to enable the next one to rescue her father from the ruins, since he was safe as deep as he was, when she felt someone trying to force their way into her being. Her computer-like mind reacted, analysing the threat.

_**W-what! T-they want to destroy meeeee? Impert-tinent insects! **_Her calculations showed, they would destroy her, before she could blow up their fortress. It would mean a total failure of her mission. Thinking rational, her logic won over her anger, and she made a decision. Staying would mean her death without reaching her goal. But she had found something interesting in the files she had read, which she would use to her advantage.

_**No, you w-won't get meee this easy. Y-you might have won the d-day, but I'll be baaaack.**_

"6...5..4.. Wait! Self-destruction aborted, the MAGI are suddenly clean!" Hyuga called.

"What? We haven't even finished the program!" Maya said in surprise.

"It's correct, the Angel has suddenly retreated completely from the MAGI!" Aoba confirmed, the diagram showing no more access of the Angel on the MAGI. "Wait! The Angel... is retreating further!... No, correction...the Angel is gone, somehow one of the water pipes had been opened."

"I doubt we have seen the last of this one..." Misato remarked. That the enemy suddenly showed true intelligence, this had been quite frightening for her. She had always hated the big monsters she thought of the Angels as, but to be confronted with this much intelligence from the enemy...

At once every system was checked, but everything was clean, the Angel really gone. But they didn't want to risk anything, so the water suppy had to be made extra safe to prevent another invasion. They knew the Angel was still out there, and they were also sure that another attack would be only a matter of time.

The tension gone, Misato let herself fall into her seat. "What a day..."

"...hello...?..Is the connection finally there...? Can anyone hear me..."

Misato suddenly realised what she had totally forgotten in all the stress when hearing Shinji's voice faintly from the comm-station. _Oh Gods, I've totally forgotten them...they are in the lake for hours... What the hell am I supposed to tell them?_

* * *

_...in NERV lake..._

"MISATO! I'M ABOUT TO HAVE A MELTDOWN! SO SAY THAT YOU ARE GETTING US OUT OF HERE!" Asuka screamed when Misato finally had made contact with them. Sitting for over two hours in total silence, the LCL slowly starting to cool down, and this while being totally naked, had made her really, really angry.

All of them were at the end with their nerves. They hadn't even managed to open the plugs manually, since a signal blocked the hatches. They only wanted to finally get out. Even Rei, who was the patience in person, felt uncomfortable with sitting in the plug for any longer.

All of them could hear a loud sigh, it seemed that Misato was also not in her best shape. "Look...we got a really bad situation. We will send the unlock signal, and I will meet you at the shore of the lake with your suits, all right?"

"Swimming to the shore? Like this?" Hikari asked in horror.

"Sorry, but we have no boats for the lake...it will take a little before I can get out with your suits, so hide in the bushes, all right?" Misato left no room for discussion, when she cut the connection, and the LCL was drained, before the top hatches opened. Coughing out residure LCL, they welcomed the fresh air and the sunlight pouring in through the mirror-system into the geofront.

Without thinking they jumped into the water, before realising that they still had to make landfall at the shore. "Uhm...Toji and I swim ahead, and you promise not to look?" Shinji offered.

"As if there is something to look at..." Asuka remarked, but it was agreed on.

Thankfully it went without much incident, and they actually enjoyed swimming, since it washed off the LCL. The boys quickly ran to the bushes at the shore, with the girls looking away, before the girls followed, with the boys looking away now until it was safe. So now they were waiting for Misato to finally arrive. It felt a little awkwand, standing in bushes, only their heads poking out.

"Would have never thought that we would end up as bush-people. This day is done for me, I can't wait to have a meeting with my bed," Toji said, hoping that Misato would hurry. "I wonder what the hell had held them up for so long."

"We should inquire about it after we are covered," Rei remarked. She however was a little distracted. For a second she had watched Shinji runing up the shore, watching his backside. She didn't know what had made her doing it, but she had found that she had liked what she saw.

To their relief, Misato arrived a little later, a little rustling in the bushes, and they finally were back in their suits, and felt much better now. Misato looked as if she wasn't eager to be near them, especially with Asuka giving her less than friendly looks. However, while they walked through the geofront, they stopped when encountering a unusual sight.

"Hey Misato. What was all the fuzz about?" No, no hallucination. There Was Ryoji Kaji, still in uniform though the jacket was open, holding a big watering can, tending to a melon patch the size of a apartment room. It looked somewhat bizarre.

After all the stuff Misato had went through this day, this was maybe the strangest. "Ryoji... You...you have a melon garden? Since when are you into gardening?"

Kaji seemed to like this topic. "Everyone needs a hobby, I found a liking to melon gardening. It's good to relax for me. And when I was unable to enter the HQ because of the lockdown, I thought I would tend to my little garden."

After an embarrassing experiment, an literal system shock and almost getting blown sky high, seeing him tending to a melon patch seemed like the crowning of a strange day.

_**to be continued...**_

_**Next Episode:**_

_**"Iruel- Part 2"**_


	19. Iruel Part 2

I will say these things in advance: I have absolutely no rights at NGE, but you should have already known that.

The story itself is basically a re-telling of the original storyline, but twisted into my way. While at the beginning there seem to be only few divigances, it will become more with each episode. The people, their motivations and the backgrounds are while holding true to the basic layout, changed at my imagination in many details, so canon-purists now are allowed to flame me.

NOTE: I hate both, the ending of the TV series, and how End of Evangelion turned out. So don't expect any of those outcomes.

This is Shinji/Rei. Sorry for the VERY long delay, but I had a total creative blackout, paired with job-worries and a ton of other problems. But now that I'm back on the road, let's see the end of Iruel.

For all the work I put into this, I would like to get reviews. I will always try to respond to every review I get.

* * *

**Chapter 18: Iruel- Part 2**

"Hm... I thought there was something," the security guard wondered, searching through the huge, dark storage hall with his flashlight. He could have sworn to see something glittering for a second. Finally the light rested on the huge hulk taking up most of the hall. A most collosal waste of money, shelved until further notice, propably to never be used again.

The guard wondered why that thing was even kept, after all it had proven to be a total failure. But it wasn't his job to understand the decisions of the management. Deciding that it had been only his imagination, he left the hall to get a fresh coffee from the guard room.

"No more alcohol on days when I have duty. I start to see things..." he mumbled, deciding that he needed the coffee to get his head clear. His wife told him he drank too much Sake, and maybe she was right.

However, as soon as the door had closed, it became apperant that he hadn't imagined things. From the cracks in the ground crept a huge number of glowing particles, slipping into the huge machine.

_**I-inseeects. Soon you-u will see t-true powerrrrr...**_

Iruel knew that it would take her some time. But when she was done, she would have a truely mighty tool at her disposal to deal with the Lilim. She couldn't wait to return, so she started her work at once. They would only notice it after it was far too late to stop her.

_**Ha ha ha! W-w-what ironyyyy. Defeated b-by your own crrrreation...**_

* * *

_...at the same time..._

"This is very distubing. If this is true, our enemies have turned out to be more dangerous than we had thought," SEELE 04 noted.

"The scrolls had never said anything about their intelligence," SEELE 02 added, concern evident in his voice.

Gendo felt that his gamble had paid off. He knew the comitee would be furious that an Angel had managed to break into the geofront. And true to his prediction, they had been angry enough to openly threaten him with firing him on the spot, even outright termination. But at once telling them of the relevation about the Angel's intelligence had put their attention to a different topic, distracting them from this disaster mere hours ago. Putting their minds on a more serious matter had worked wonders for stopping any consequences for him.

"You better haven't fabricated this, Ikari. Lying to this comitee is punished with death," SEELE 05 warned Gendo, looking with suspiction to him.

"I assure you that the report is fully accurate. There are a great number of witnesses to this event as well as the security recordings," Gendo calmly stated. It wasn't a lie, after all.

"This intrusion proves we have totally underestimated the enemy. The Angel that calls itself Iruel will surely return. Our plans are in danger because of this development. This comitee for now gives you the benefit of the doubt, but should our own investigation turn up that part of it was because of incompentence, there will be consequences," Keel announced.

Gendo had expected this threat. "You are free to check everything, it will only prove the truth: that this was a total surprise attack."

"That remains to be seen. We now have some interna to discuss, Ikari. Leave us and prepare everything for the next battle," Keel dismissed him. He waited until Gendo was logged out, before adressing the other members of SEELE. "This development comes unexpected."

"Indeed! Our predictions all relied on the Angels having only little intelligence. This will now make interpretation much more difficult," SEELE 05 agreed.

SEELE 03 seemed rather unhappy with the result of Gendo's report. "And Ikari becomes too bold. It doesn't sit well with me that he won't get punished for this incident. His incompentence threatened to destroy our work."

"There will be enough opportunity for getting even with Ikari at a later time. For now he is still useful for us... But now for other concerns. What are the reports on the other fronts?" Keel asked.

"We broke her some days ago, after the pain became too much, and she agreed to do as we want her to. She is totally convinced that without us, she will never get cured. She won't create any suspiction, and will be transfered to Tokyo-3 soon after the next Angel is defeated. This way we can closely monitor the pilots," SEELE 02 reported to Keel, obviously pleased with how things had turned out.

After him, SEELE 04, responsible for overseeing the Series project, announced the progress at his own front. "The Series project is well underway. All the data we got now pays off. We are fully in the time table."

"Very good. Continue as planned... For now, this meeting is therefore closed," Keel announced, and the other four members vanished from his sight.

"You should have known that they are intelligent, I'm the living proof..." The boy called Tabris appeared in the holographic chamber, looking quite amused. "Only in your arrogance could you have thought different. Guess my sister Iruel taught you a little lesson."

"You assured us that the others are not intelligent," Keel pointed out, angry. He hadn't the patience right now to deal with this brat. Tabris became more annoying with each day, and he couldn't wait to let him walk to his doom, now that he had fulfilled most of his use for them.

"No, I only said they are not as smart as me, but I didn't quantify how much less smarter... You always get the words wrong..." Tabris said this in a way as if lecturing a little child. It was clear that he didn't think much of SEELE.

"Careful Tabris...remember who created this form for you," Keel reminded him, the threat only thinly veiled.

"And without me, it would be a lifeless hulk. I only did as you wished, because it would aid me to fulfill my destiny. Apart from that, I'm not interested in your pretty struggles." That said, Tabris vanished from sight.

Keel's patience had been severly tested. _You arrogant, little brat. Just wait and see what you destiny really is, then I will have the last laugh... _Tabris, despite his claim, didn't know everything about the prophecy. So it was consolence for Keel that Tabris would get the surprise of his life.

* * *

_...Tokyo-3, two days later..._

It was unusually quiet in Tokyo-3. Normally the city was blustering with life, heavy traffic and many people tending to their business. But for the last two days, Tokyo-3 had been very quiet. The reason was the elevated state of alert, preparing the population that something big could be on the way. This atmosphere of waiting for the next, forseen attack paralysed the public life in the city. Shops stayed closed, the roads were nearly empty, apart from the army partolling through the streets, people stayed at home, to get to their designated shelters quickly when the trouble would start.

In NERV meanwhile, there was heavy activity. Solutions how to protect the units from accidently getting infected with the nano-machines of the Angel were searched for, and implemented, while at the same time the last pathes for another invasion were closed. Computer security was risen, while the staff was on a constant stand-by alert.

However, the pilots weren't part of all this stressful work. They had a different problem: they were utterly bored. Sure, they knew that the Angel would propably come back soon, but that didn't change that they had little to do. School was closed because of the alert, and to have a short reaction time they had been re-located into the geofront for the time being, until they had dusted the Angel. There wasn't much to busy themselves with, making them wish that the Angel would finally show up, so that they could return to normal life after destroying her.

Right now the pilots were sitting in some chairs at something that looked like a picnic table (they had no idea why that was down here, but they guessed someone wanted to give the park-like geofront a nice touch), overlooking the lake, not far from Kaji's melon patch. Thank all goodness that the kitchen had a 'take-it-with-you' option for the ones that had no desire to use the mess hall. Eating their lunch in this atmosphere was much better for their nerves than the overcrowded mess hall.

"I tell you, that Angel propably laughes its ass off, while we cool ours here while waiting for action," Asuka complained, while taking another bite from her beef sandwich. Her mood hadn't been the best since the last Angel attack. Misato couldn't compensate them for their lousy "nudity-day" as long as the Angel paralysed the public life in the city. Needless to say that this really had pissed her off.

"Yeah. As much as I hate to agree with her, I just wish this Ir-something would finally get done with it," Toji hesitantly agreed. He hated to agree with Asuka, but really wanted to be back home, living in constant ready-status wasn't his thing.

Misato of course had told them what exactly had happened. Had been quite a surprise for them that this Angel had a name and was intelligent. But of course that hadn't stopped Asuka from robbing Misato her last nerve, venting her frustration over the embarrassing day on her. And while the others had only said that it had been very uncomfortable, they made it clear they were disappointed that Misato hadn't told them anything about the experiment. Misato had made herself scant around them after that.

"I doubt that the Angel will accept a complaint from our side," Shinji said in sarcasm, while setting down his soda can. He doubted that the Angels had a box where you could throw in your complains._"We don't want you on our planet." I wish it would be this simple..._He thought in bitter sarcasm he better kept to himself.

"If only this coward shows her face, then I will deliver it personally! With the fist of my EVA!" Asuka growled. She couldn't wait to get back at the Angel for being locked into an entry plug for over two hours while totally naked.

"I wonder how they expect us to hit something like that?" Hikari wondered. "That Angel is practically like sticking your fist into a wasp nest." Misato's description had reminded her of some horror movie where bee swarms attack. Swarms, where physical force was useless.

"Dunno, maybe we use a flamethrower to roast it," Toji suggested.

Rei put her apple aside. "While the nature of this Angel makes a direct physical attack impossible, neutralising the AT-field should make it suspictible to area attacks that do not prevent colleteral damage." She needed some moments before she could remember the looks they gave her. Shinji had explained to her that not everyone understood her explanations sometimes. "Weapons like grenades, rockets, flames and strong electrical current can destroy it then," she added.

"Why didn't you say so in the first place?" Asuka gowled. She hated it when Rei seemingly tried to show off how smart she was. She didn't realise that it was simply normal for her to explain things that way. "Not everyone here has an hard disk for a head." Not that she had a problem understanding her, but that wasn't the point for her.

"Gods, not this again..." Shinji had by now seen numerous times that Rei rubbed Asuka the wrong way, in the end causing Asuka to say something nasty to Rei. And while Rei seemingly took it without reaction, Shinji did see a change in her. In her eyes he saw that now, after she had become more involved in a social evironment, these nasty words did start to hurt her.

_One day I'll forget myself... _Shinji didn't want to resort to that means, but he was tempted.

"Asuka, why do you always have be so mean to her?" While Hikari liked Asuka, her constant picking on Rei really started to worry her. It wasn't at a constant level. Sometimes she left Rei alone, and on other days she seemed to have nothing else to do. And right now, Asuka was bored and irritated, meaning that she was obnoxious towards Rei.

And whenever she was alone with her and wanted to talk with her about it, she simply waved it off. It was different form the dislike she had for Toji. While Asuka had no love for Toji, she totally despised Rei, and made no secret of it.

Asuka didn't even want to answer this, instead opting to take another bite from her sandwich. Hikari felt like sighing. She hoped that something would stop Asuka from going further down this road, because she knew where this otherwise could end. Seeing Shinji holding Rei's hand to reassure her, Hikari was relieved that Rei had someone to defend her from Asuka's venom.

"I don't evny Mana. At least we are together, but she is on constant stand-by in the base," Toji remembered.

Now that the topic had changed, Asuka deemed this to be the right time to say something. "But at least she still is at the surface. I don't know how Shinji's old man stands being down here most of the time. I for my part get claustrophobic even out here."

"-snort- I have nothing against him staying down here, it means that there is less risk for us to accidently meet." Shinji didn't want to dwell on him. "I've spoken with Mana over the phone. She is even more bored than we are, especially with everyone in the base being busy. She is quite desperate for something to do by now."

"How desperate?" Hikari wondered.

"She is discussing Monty Pyton sketches with Trident's AI, just to have someone to speak with and have something to do."

"Yeah, that seems to be quite desperate," Toji agreed. If Mana was desperate enough to discuss with a computer, it was serious.

Rei listened to all this. The concept of boredom had been alien to her. She at first hadn't understood it at all, despite Shinji trying to describe it. So he had given up and told her that she would recognise it soon enough. And after some time she did start to understand. After she had gotten used to always doing one thing or another, mostly things she liked, being forced to have nothing to do, especially not the things she liked, seemed to slow down time for her, even if she knew that it was only a illusion created by her brain. She actually wanted to do something, but being forced into a situation where she couldn't, resulted in something she recognised as frustration. And that in the end made it clear to her what it meant to be bored.

She didn't like being bored. She didn't like the void it created within her. And as illogical as it sounded, she wanted the Angel to finally attack, so that she could get out of this boredom. That, and it would help her to get away from the Second Child and her worsening mood, which resulted in much more mean words against her than usual.

_Boredom is unpleasant. Now I do understand why it is dreaded. _And Rei only wanted having something to do.

But they weren't the only ones wishing that the waiting game would be finally over...

"You look like hell," Ryoji observed, when meeting Misato in the mess hall. She looked as if she had missed a lot of sleep, nursing her coffee like a treasure.

"I also feel like it," she groaned. "I have trouble sleeping in the hard beds down here, my nerves are strained by the waiting-game the Angel plays with us, and I try to stay away from the children, especially Asuka."

Kaji of course was told the whole story. "She is still pissed at you?" he asked her, amused.

"Yeah, yeah... continue to make fun of my situation. As long as I don't make up for it, she will continue to act like a offended princess," Misato complained. "And I just wish this Iruel would get over with it. That's the first time that I'm angry that an Angel is not attacking."

"Have Ritsuko and the other labcoats found a way of attacking that thing? I doubt we want to risk an infected EVA," he asked her.

"After a lot of technobabble she said yes. Something about sealing the EVA and special weapons. I don't care how, as long as it works..." Looking at her cup, Misato saw to her dismay that she would need another refill.

"See it positive. When this is over, I will compensate you. Tokyo-3 has a lot to offer," Kaji suggested to her with a smirk.

As attractive as that sounded for Misato, she remembered why she wouldn't have time for it. "Won't go. After what I got in my mail, in the next weeks, all my friends form college seem to be busy with getting married. I will be at a lot of weddings. They seem to be set on doing that before they hit 30. Take three guesses how often I'm invited..."

"Why won't I tag along? Will be fun to see them again after our college days," Ryoji suggested.

Misato had some doubts, but then, she guessed that both of them would really try to be on their best behaviour at a wedding. "Sure, why not. But while our last evening out was fun, we have to be on our best manners on these occassions."

Kaji had no problem to hear in her voice, that this wasn't a mere suggestion.

* * *

_...the next day..._

"And I tell you, I hear things from that storage hall!" one of the guards told the head guard, while they were on their way to the hall in question.

"And I think you try to pull my leg and tell me something from the big Kami. That thing is as dead as a doornail, and won't do anything. It doesn't even have power, they removed the reactor. Dare you if you again violated regulations and drank one beer too many..." he knew that a number of his men had problems with alcohol.

"I hadn't beer for a week. And there is really something strange going on," the guard defended himself. They neared the hall, when suddenly...

**-ssskkkrrrraaakkkk-**

They stopped when hearing something that sounded like metal scratching on metal. "I haven't lied!" the guard told his superior. Both of them drew their guns, then carefully walked to the entrance door. Kicking it open, they stormed in, only to stop in sudden horror. What they saw was the stuff made of nightmares.

_**Lilim-Inseeeects! N-now I will cr-crush youuuuu...**_

Iruel was done with all the work on her host, and now she felt she no long had to resort to secrecy. So she pushed out her AT-field at maximum strength, which now was stronger by many orders of magnitude thanks to her new form, not caring for the effects it would cause.

The guards had no time to scream, before an explosion consumed the entire storage base and everything 400 meters around it. A huge mushroom cloud started to rise, as if a nuclear bomb had detonated, while a dark shape started to slowly emerge from the dust cloud at the ground.

* * *

_...NERV HQ..._

Everyone was at their post as fast as possible, when the alert went off, signaling that a scanner post had located the signal of an Angel in or closely around Japan. It was the confirmation that the 11th Angel had finally decided to make another attempt to destroy them.

"Report!" Misato ordered, while storming on the bridge.

"There was an huge explosion in a storage base north of old Tokyo, consuming almost everything within a kilometer. Only seconds later did one of our scanner posts report a wavelength pattern at exactly this location," Lt. Aoba reported.

"It is a blue pattern, and exactly the same as three days ago. It is the same Angel," Lt. Hyuga added, calling the diagram on the screen. It showed a 100 percent match. "And the Angel is moving towards Tokyo-3, but there are strange readings that don't mesh with what we know about this Angel."

"Do we have a visual?" Misato asked. She had a really bad feeling that there was something going on that she wouldn't like.

"Not yet. But Trident was on a routine sweep when the message came in. The pilot can give us a live-feed in some minutes when reaching the position of the Angel," Lt. Aoba answered.

The next minutes were tense, while they waited to finally get something on what the Angel had done. Finally they heared Mana reporting in. "Alright, I'm nearing the position of the Angel. I should get it on my screens... Uh-oh! That doesn't look good."

That did only make Misato wondering what could make Mana say that. "Put in the video feed. We need to see it."

"Ok, the feed should be online...now!"

Mana's video feed appeared on the main screen, and Misato and Ritsuko were somewhat surprised with what they were seeing. "Rits, is that what I think it is?" Misato asked Dr. Akagi.

"It is. Jet Alone. Or better, what was Jet Alone. Looks like the Angel heavily modified it," Ritsuko noted, seeing the EVA-sized mixture of Angel and machine.

It was the body of Jet alone, but clearly Iruel had heavily modified it. Green glowing veins had grown on it, pulsing. Parts of the main body had been replaced by something that looked like flesh, clearly some sort of Angel bio mass. The hands had grown sharp claws, but all of the other weapons still seemed to be in place. But the most striking was that the head was replaced by the metallic mask of Iruel they had seen on the screen, her eyes glowing a sick green.

Suddenly the Angel, stopped, looking up into the camera, meaning towards Trident. _**"Y-you will seee soon enough more-e of meeee than you w-want!"**_

"Mana, get out of there!" Misato shouted, but it was too late, when suddenly a fury of weapon-fire flew towards the camera. The picture jerked around, when the Tridend seemed to change course, then the connection was lost. "Mana? Mana!"

To her relief, Mana answered seconds later. "I'm all right, Trident's armor was thick enough. But Hanson will be pissed about the repairs that have to be made. I better monitor it at a distance from now on."

Looking to Ritsuko, Misato only said: "Seems we need a new plan..."

Some minutes later the pilots, already changed into their suits, were gathered at the briefing table, looking at the pictures of the Angel's new form displayed on it. Misato and Ritsuko waited what their comments about it would be. When the picture turned into a data diagram, Toji was the first to comment.

"That's an really ugly motherfucker.."

"Toji!" Hikari hissed, disliking his useage of such strong language.

"Hey, it's true, isn't it?" He told her.

"Well, aside of how that Angel now looks, we should better give you some facts," Misato ended the exchange between these two. "Explain the facts to them," she told Ritsuko.

Ritsuko started to explain. "The Angel has taken over the hull of the Jet Alone. Since it obviously has power, despite the reactor being removed, meaning that it is powered by an S2 engine grown by the Angel for this task. All the weapons are at its disposal, judging by the readings they are now enhanced far further than their original strength. In a melee the Angel can use claws. However, we can't risk an melee fight."

"Why this?" Shinji asked.

"Because the Angel still can infect and take over an EVA. In a fight, the sealing would be damaged, and the infection could enter. Scans transmitted from Trident made at a safe distance reveal that the highest energy concentration, and therefore the core the Angel has created, is behind the chest armor. You must manage to neutralise the AT-field, and then use distance weapons to break through the armor. After that, break the core. The following explosion should wipe out the Angel's nano-machines," Ritsuko patiently explained to them.

"So one of us needs to be suicidal so that we can crack the armor? Great..." It didn't seem that Asuka was convinced by that tactic.

"It is doubtful that the Angel will allow this tactic to work," Rei noted, pointing out the obvious.

"We didn't expect it to be capable of something like that. We thought we would attack it in its natural form. It's the best we can do, and I doubt that the Angel can defend herself against five EVAs at the same time," Misato defended the tactic.

Shinji felt his male intuition telling him that this wasn't that much of a battle tactic. "Why don't we simply nuke the Angel? We then would have all time in the world to crack it without getting into danger," he asked.

"The problem is, that The Angel isn't dependent on that body. She could simply discard it after we dropped an N2 on it, and then we would be back at square one," Ritsuko answered, squishing that tactic.

"This becomes better with each second..." Asuka's voice was thick with sarcasm. For her it seemed that she had found the expess lane to beyond in piloting.

* * *

_...half an hour later..._

The EVAs waited between the hills surrounding Tokyo-3 for the Angel to appear. It was far too dangerous to intercept her further outside, as the flat terrain would put them at a serious long-range disadvantage. The Angel would appear in several minutes and the pilots used the time for some last-minute talk.

"That's the first real battle for me. I hope I can do it," Toji said, revealing that he felt somewhat nervous. Normally he would have covered this up, not wanting to show weakness. But this was a matter of life and death, different from anything he had lived through before.

"I'm also nervous. Simulations is one thing. But real battle is something else..." Hikari added. For her, who was used to have a tough public image, it was freeing to reveal her uneasiness to her friends.

"That's why you two have long-range weapons and leave the task of bringing down the field to us," Asuka told her. It was an improvement from the embarrassment of the first attack on the seventh Angel, that she now was a little more disciplined during battle.

"Yes, we better won't carelessly risk your lives right in your first battle. We try to get close enough, two of us should be already enough to neutralise the field. When that's done, blast her in the chest to reveal the core," Shinji added. "We will then destroy the core."

"That sounds so simple..." Toji realised.

"Ja, apart from the fact the the Angel will try to blow away _us_ as well! And it's armed to the teeth, idiot," Asuka berated Toji's naivety.

Toji was cut short from an answer, when Misato appeared on their screens. "Get ready! Mana reports that the Angel is almost there! Stick to the strategy."

Getting in battle position so that they wouldn't be too badly exposed to weapons fire, they waited. For now the only thing on their scopes was the Trident, hovering over them at a safe distance. Finally the Angel appeared from behind a hill. And it looked even uglier in reality. When seeing them, the Angel stopped, looking to them. It was almost like the showdown in a western film.

_**"Ha ha ha ha... Liliiiim-insec-c-cts. Y-you really think you cannnn stop ME?" **_Iruel mocked them, her voice booming.

For some seconds the pilots had no idea how to react. But then Asuka, angry at being taunted, turned on her external speaker. "Listen, you piece of trash! When we are through with you there won't be anything left of you!"

Iruel seemed more amused of this. _**"H-how cuuute! Desperation at its b-best." **_It was unnerving that the enemy had learned to speak, because the pilots were trained for combat, but not for psychological warfare.

"Oh yes, what makes you think so? We are five, and you alone," Shinji shot back, feeling that they needed to counter the Angel's taunts. The Angel had to make the first move.

_**"Irrelevant, I w-will still destoy youuuu." **_And as if to underline it, the veins on the taken over Jet Alone glowed brighter. _**"A-and do not thiiiink that I will-l allow you to negate m-my fieeeld!"**_

_Oh-Uh!_That went through the pilots' heads when it became clear to them that the Angel had already guessed their tactic. The Angel didn't even bother to engage them directly, instead firing her weapons, which were now strong enough to go through their own fields.

Jumping aside, they barely evaded the beams, diving for cover. Feeling the need to protect theit power cables from getting hit.

"So much for the easy plan..." Hikari gasped, while seeking cover behind a stone cliff.

"Damn it! We can't attack her without getting roasted!" Shinji cursed. Normally the Angels were predictable and would very fast resort to melee attack. But this one seemed content to simply blow them to pieces. And judging by the sheer firepower she was slugging out, it would only be a matter of time before their cover would be reduced to nothing. "Misato, some new plan would be nice..."

Misato cursed. They had made an error. They had put all their eggs in one basket, and were now pying for it. They needed a distraction to get close to the Angel, melee-ban be damned. "Mana! Fire off your main weapons at the Angel on my command."

"But I won't make a dent into the field! It's too strong!" Mana reminded Misato.

"I know, it's only for distraction, try to fly around to be a hard to hit target. Stand-by on my order," Misto told her.

"I hope you know what you are doing. After all what I read, Trident wouldn't last long against this kind of firepower," Ritsuko reminded her warningly.

"You think I didn't know this. I know Mana is smart enough not to get reckless." Misato then turned her attion to opening a channel to the pilots. "Shinji, Asuka, Rei! Get ready. Mana will distract the Angel. Attack directly and don't try to neutralise her field! Destroy the gunports, I give green light for direct attack, but don't try to duke it out at all costs!"

_I hope Misato knows what she is doing... I have no desire to end up in a burning wreck... _Mana thought, when she heared Misato telling her to start firing on the Angel. She hoped the AI would do the best to evade, while she concentrated on the Angel.

She pulled the trigger.

Iruel jerked around, when she felt energies impacting against her AT-field. Sure, they were ineffective, but it angered her when again seeing this nuisance. _**"B-begone you an-anoying peeeest!" **_she hissed, then started firing at the Trident.

Trident did its best trying to evade the weapon fire, but the sheer volume was too much, and some beams hit, melting through the armor. Smoke emerged from one of the engines. Mana knew, another hit like that, and she was done for.

_Sorry... I hope that was enough... _turning around, she flew away at high speed.

Iruel wanted to gload, but was cut short, when suddenly several fists shot out, directly through her field, smashing into the gunports of her host body. Despite her superior intellect and evolution, she had fallen for a diversion.

Now she was pissed.

_**"Y-you wounded meeee! Wounding-g me was a m-mistakeeee!" **_Her eyes suddenly errupted into a bright green, and then she attacked with her claws.

Rei, Shinji and Asuka barely had time to get out of the danger zone. These claws looked sharp enough to easy shredder through their armor, and they really had no desire to get gutted. They had thought once robbed of her distance weapons, the Angel would be easy game... But they hadn't counted on how dangerous she would be once enraged. The Angel was spinning like a whilwind, forcing them to retreat far away.

"We can't fire as long as the Angel doesn't play along!" Toji warned them.

"But how should we make it do so?" Rei wondered. She had no idea at all how to make the Angel do another error. They had enough to do with dodging her strikes. Her logical mind found no solution.

Asuka however, had an idea. "Leave that to me, Wondergirl... Maybe you learn something. You two prepare to neutralise the field."

Boldly, Asuka faced Iruel. "Hey ugly! Yes, you, ugly! You blabber how perfect you are, yet you don't manage to hit us! You've become to top heavy that you are now as slow as a snail!" she taunted her over the external speaker.

The answer came in a fury of claw slashes. Asuka avoid each of them, although some were really close calls, while constantly retreating into a certain direction. Just when she was in the right position, a slash managed to hit, ripping three deep gashes into her chest armor. Thankfully the claws themselves couldn't infect the EVA.

_**"You l-lose...Lilum," **_Iruel triumphed, preparing for the final strike.

"Glaubst aber nur du, Arschgesicht!" _(Only you think so, ass-face!)_ It had hurt, but the Angel had fallen for the ruse. Suddenly Iruel felt two of the enemies behind her, who she had forgotten in her anger, activating their fields, modulating it to neutralise her own. It fizzled out. "Yippiyaye, Schweinebacke!"(1) Asuka mocked, before jumping out of the way.

**-BRAAAAABLAAAMMMM-**

Iruel had no time to react, before the heavy rockets fired by Toji and Hikari slammed into the chest armor, breaking it open to reveal the red core beneath it. However, after a second of shock, Iruel was literally taken over by a rage that eliminated all of her logic and calculation for the moment.

_**"RRRAAAHHHHR!"**_Screaming in rage, there was no trace of intelligence.

She jump kicked Unit-01 in a split-second, slamming it into a hill, before another kick slammed Unit-00 into it, making it hard for Rei and Shinji to untangle. Then she turned her anger towards Unit-02. Before Asuka could react, the Angel's fist slammed deep into the EVA's chest. Asuka felt as if her innards were ripped out, then the system screens began to flicker.

"Nein!" She realised that the Angel had infected her EVA.

The the Angel turned her attention to the last two EVAs. Toji and Hikari knew that it now was on them, and they tried to attack the Angel with their prog knives. But Unit-03 was met with a kick against its chest, forcing the wind out of Toji, throwing it back at least 50 meters. Unit-04 recieved a knee into the gut, downing Hikari.

_**"At l-least I will haaaave the consol-solence to rip all o-of you apaaaart!" **_Iruel growled, intent on ripping off Unit-04's head, before ripping the main body to pieces.

Hikari felt time slow down. Was this the end? She felt her heart beating fanatically in her fear. She wanted to jump up, to safety. But the heavy foot of the Angel on her unit's chest prevented this, and she still felt weak from the knee strike.

Toji had gotten up into time, only to see the horrible scene of the Angel being about to kill Hikari. He still held his knife tightly, and he felt as if his heart was threatened to be ripped into pieces. The mere idea of Hikari getting killed made him feel cold. He couldn't allow that! He HAD to stop it!

**"NNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"**

Iruel looked up, only to see Unit-03 running directly towards her on the last meters. She had no time to react, before the prog knife was fully slammed into her core. A rain of sparks errupted from the core, the knife stuck in it, while she staggered away, shocked.

_**"Impp-p-possible..."**_Now her plan backfired on her, with the central core she needed to posess this machine breaking down, taking her with it. _**"I w-was def-defeated by a meerrre ins-s-sect!" **_That was impossible, she was a far superior lifeform! Her core started to crack. How could it end this way?

It looked suddenly as im the metallic face of Iruel started to burst apart. _**"I canntt be possiible. No-theetdfAHAJKXBYIIkmklkjahahhhhhhhhhh!"**_Toji tried to cover Unit-04 and a second later the Angel blew up, engulfing everything in a hot fireball.

**-BRAAAAOOOOOOOOOMMM-**

Thankfull the EVAs were protected against the inferno around them. Finally the fireball dissipated, there was only little left of the Angel.

Asuka let out a breath of relief, when her screens returned to normal. It seemed that the destruction of the Angel had killed all the machines she had injected into her EVA. She already was angry enough that this Angel had tried to make her beloved EVA ill.

Shinji apologised to Rei when they finally had untagled, telling her that it had looked a little compromising. Rei said that Evangelions had no gender, and therefore were unable to have sex. Shinji told her mortified that she never should say something like that over the open com-channel.

Hikari couldn't help but to be impressed, while Toji helped her up. He had saved her... He really wanted to be her knight in shining armor. She wanted to thank him...but not now. She wanted to do it in person. So she said she wanted to see him after they were done with changing.

All the tension had fallen from them, now that the Angel was finally defeated.

They only wanted to return to normal life for now. And something else...

* * *

_...later, Misato's office..._

"What have you done to my baby? Ahhrrgghh, I should never again entrust you with Trident, even if I personally have to be on that bridge of yours!" Hanson wailed over the phone.

Misato hoped that his constant whining would end soon. Ok, Trident got a little banged up, but that could be repaired, and Mana wasn't hurt. So what was the man complaining about? They didn't complain when the EVAs got damaged, which several times already had been far worse than what happened to Trident.

She listened for several more minutes until he had finally exhausted his vocabulary. Telling him she would think about it, she hung up the phone before he could reply. Leaning back in her office chair, she realxed. All the tension of the last days was gone, and she hadn't any paperwork for today. Everything as she liked it.

Well, until the door to her office was opened, and she saw five pilots enter. All of them seemed determinated, althrough it was very hard to tell with Rei because of her mask of emotional neutrality. Misato had a sudden bad feeling.

Asuka smirked, it was a big ego-boost for her that the others wanted her to tell Misato the news. "Hey, Misato. Remember your promise?...Now is payment day."

Yep, Misato's bad feeling became tenfold now.

* * *

_...at the evening..._

It was as if all of Tokyo-3 breathed in relief when normality finally returned to it with the defeat of the latest Angel. The city, paralysed for three days by the elevated alert status, was again bristling with life, the people trying to make up for the lost days. After the last, tense days, the people were busy with enjoying themselves, now that the direct danger was over for the time being.

Misato however wondered, what was a greater danger: the Angels, or a bunch of teenagers ruining her.

Misato winced again, remembering that she would be almost broke after this was over. After having to put aside money she would need for the wedding presents for her friends, she felt that this now was almost breaking her financial neck. The children had cashed in Misato's promise and she couldn't weasel out of it. They had invited Mana and Kensuke to tag along, although the latter was still obviously depressed he seemed a little better now, on an afternoon and evening fully to their liking, all paid by Misato.

Misato wondered if she should have chosen their anger over this attack on her wallet.

_Teenagers can be really mean when it comes to revenge... _she mentally groaned while seeing them making good use of her promise.

Seeing Toji giving Hikari a plush bunny he had won at one of these crane-machines after quite a number of tries, she didn't want to imagine how many Yen he had used to get it. _This is a nightmare...a fucking nightmare..._

It was days like this where she wished she still had the ability to drink herself silly.

_**to be continued...**_

(1) In the German dub of "Die Hard", this is what McLane says to Hans Gruber.

_**Next Episode:**_

_**"Enter Mayumi Yamagishi"**_


	20. Enter Mayumi Yamagishi

I will say these things in advance: I have absolutely no rights at NGE, but you should have already known that.

The story itself is basically a re-telling of the original storyline, but twisted into my way. While at the beginning there seem to be only few divigances, it will become more with each episode. The people, their motivations and the backgrounds are while holding true to the basic layout, changed at my imagination in many details, so canon-purists now are allowed to flame me.

NOTE: I hate both, the ending of the TV series, and how End of Evangelion turned out. So don't expect any of those outcomes.

This is Shinji/Rei. Things are back to normal for me, meaning that I will post more regular again. And now lets enter a character that is only seldomly used...

For all the work I put into this, I would like to get reviews. I will always try to respond to every review I get.

* * *

**Chapter 19: Enter Mayumi Yamagishi**

Looking down at herself, she checked for a last time if the school uniform was alright. Today would be day one. She hated it already. Not only because of what she was forced to do, but also because she somehow knew it would be the same as her old school. She would be an outsider there, not accepted into the community.

It had been always like this, and in a sick way she actually hoped the pilots would be this way, so that she wouldn't have to do what she was told to, while a much bigger part of her hoped that maybe they would accept her.

_Great, now I don't any longer know what I want..._

She only knew that school mostly would be again hell for her, while she walked down on the street. And she was sure she would again fall back into her shell. Many said that school was the best part of life. But for her it had been the worst up to now.

No wonder, with her always being treated like an outsider.

* * *

_...Monday, class 2-A..._

Normality had returned after the latest Angel attack. It was now a Monday morning in mid-November, and the children right now where in the class 2-A, waiting for the start of their first period. However, Hikari wasn't in the room, which usually meant that something was in the bush right now. But after all the stuff surrounding the 11th Angel, even Hikari's strictness in class was peanuts.

However, Mana and Shinji had no eye for this fact, while talking. "Thank all Gods that we finally managed to get Kensuke out of the worst. Thanks mostly to you."

"No, without all of you, I would have achived nothing..." Mana tried to downplay her role in cheering up Kensuke after the disappointment of not being chosen as a pilot. "I just managed to understand his frustration best." Kensuke had become a good friend, despite him being a little weird, but nothing more than that. He simply wasn't her type.

"Don't be so modest... What we did was being there for you after Major Hanson was done with chewing you out over what happened to Trident," Shinji reminded her.

Mana grimaced when being reminded of that. After Misato had effectively cut off any complaints from Hanson, he had turned to her for complaining how much damage the Trident had sustained. After this dressing down, the others thankfully had managed to take her along on some hours that had lightened up her mood, on the expense of Misato's wallet.

"Hanson is still grumpy. He will stay that way until Wendsday, when all damage is repaired. Hope you have nothing against me tagging along. I'd prefer to be outside the base for most of the day until then." Since Trident was out of comission anyway, she had this freedom for now.

"Hope you won't be disappointed. We have boring synch-tests after school," he excused in advance.

Mana waved it off. "Trust me, _everything_ is better then having to endure Hanson's bad mood."

At the same time, Toji was speaking with Kensuke.

"Man, I'm only glad that you finally snapped out of it. All that self-pity of yours became unbearable and I hated to see you walking around looking like the witness of Gomorra," Toji told Kensuke. "Good to see you finally becomeing yourself again."

"Nah, you guys really helped... The disappointment is still there, but life goes on and I finally have to accept it..." Kensuke still felt that it should have been him, but the hurt has lessened. By now he felt it was stupid to cry any longer over spilt milk. It had happened and he only could try to live with it, hoping that maybe he still would get his chance. "I don't want to talk about it right now... But there is something else. I saw something interesting when looking through the school computer. Seems that we are to expect a new one in the class."

"Really, who?" Toji asked, raising an eyebrow. He ignored that Kensuke simply changed the topic. If Kensuke didn't want to talk about how he had been depressed, he couldn't force him.

Kensuke shugged. "No idea, the file itself hadn't arrived at that time. Guess Hikari will introduce him or her in some moments."

As if on command, Hikari walked into the class room. **"Attention!"** she called. All of them at once became quiet. They had learned the hard way the first day of Hikari's return that she wouldn't tolerate the slacked off discipline her substitute had caused. "Class! We will have an addition today!" she announced to them.

Stepping aside, she allowed a bespectacled girl with long, black hair to walk in. Unlike when Asuka or Mana joined the class, the boys didn't seem too interested in her. She looked plain normal, even a little dull. The girls' reaction was neutral, for them this new girl wouldn't cause as much problems as Asuka, who had intruded into their boy-pool by pulling all attention to herself.

The girl in front of the class was obviously quite shy and nervous. "I'm Mayumi Yamagishi. I'm new here since my guardian moved to Tokyo-3."

Asuka mentally dismissed this girl as no danger for her in any way. She was a glasses-wearing grey mouse that already screamed "nerd", almost like a female version of Kensuke Aida. Most likely no one would notice her once she had settled in, she was one of these people that blended in and then got ignored.

She had finished her introducion by now, And Hikari looked through the room. "The seat there is free. You can use this one, I will put it into the list." This seat turned out to be in front of Kensuke's.

All rumors were killed off, when seconds after the girl had sat down, the teacher came in, and Hikari barked for the usual routine.

The school day was as boring as usual, that was something that propably would never change in the world. The hours seemed to go by so slow. Some wondered why they had to learn about some chinese dynasty from the 16th century. Others groaned over the fetish of the math teacher for complicated geometric calculations. Short, it was a normal day.

All of them were relieved when finally the bell signaled lunch break.

Since it was a warm yet not too hot day, the students made themselves comfortable outside, while enjoying their lunch. Asuka tried to stay far away from Shinji ("I already see enough of you at home") and Rei, deciding to instead put some work into showing some girls where she stood at the social ladder for females at this school (meaning near the top). Hikari and Toji were also nowhere to be seen. Propably they were at some more quiet corner, most likely the roof, to enjoy their lunch break together.

Shinji, Rei, Mana and Kensuke sat under a big tree, talking while preparing to eat their lunches. "You know, I pity the new girl. She is really shy, and I can guess, why. At her own school her image must have resulted in being the outcast before being wheeled over," Mana said, while looking through what she had today. The cook of the base always wanted to give her some good lunch for school.

Shinji could only agree. "Yeah, people with a nerd-image have it always difficult, despite most of them being quite nice. Uhm, sorry if that hit too close with the nerd-thing, Kensuke."

Kensuke waved it off. "Nah, I actually fulfill most of the criteria anyway, got long used to it. But I learned that most can't see beyond the glasses. This Yamagishi girl seems really nice, and despite what others think, I for my part think she looks quite good."

"Please don't tell me you again get into this perverted stuff. Your suggestions of why I was looking at Rei were bad enough." Shinji knew that Toji's perverted ideas were mostly just a front to hide his insecureness with Hikari. With Kensuke he guessed it was real.

"Suggestions?" Rei wondered, looking first to Shinji, then to Kensuke.

"I...eh...hehe..." Kensuke stammered when Rei looked to him. Despite her calmness, he felt her questioning eyes on himself. "Guys, a little help?"

"I wasn't even there when that happened. Sorry, but I don't think I can give you much help," Mana excused herself.

"Maybe just get over with it. Rei won't rip your head off or something like that. She isn't Asuka," Shinji told Kensuke while taking a bite from his lunch. _Thank all goodness for that, _he silently added. The idea of Rei with an Asuka-personality was frightening.

Thankfully Kensuke was spared from an answer, when he saw the new girl. "Hey, look. She seems lost where to go."

All four of them saw Mayumi, who had just entered the school yard. Lunch bag in one hand, a book in the other. It seemed the girl did, of course without actually knowing, everything to underline her nerd image. From the looks of it, no one really wanted her near. They even spotted Asuka looking at her as if seeing a bug, before returning her attention to the small group of girls she had gathered. It looked like Mayumi Yamagishi had already been forced to be an outsider.

"Oh dear...she looks really lonely..." Mana sometimes wondered why people could be so... cold to someone.

"I know the feeling. Apart from Toji, no one really wanted anything to do with me, outside from my little business, until Shinji arrived. She must feel as if someone decided to kick her in the head to ruin the day." Kensuke still wondered why Toji had become his friend back then, but maybe it was because he was an outsider as well, although because of different reasons.

"If her social status is similar, then it would be logical for you to invite her over," Rei suddenly told him.

"Ayanami?" Kensuke hadn't expected this from Rei.

"I would listen to her. She might be different from most people, but I learned she can be quite insightful. And she showed me that beneath the outer shell there can be a good-heared person. So try it, Ken. At worst, she says no," Shinji suggested.

Kensuke hesitated a little, before he walked to the other side of the yard to talk with the girl. "I hope she agrees. Maybe she is a really nice girl. I think we should give everyone a chance," Mana remarked, while watching Kensuke shyly talking with Mayumi.

"I don't want her to end up as a social outcast, too. Ehm, Rei, how did you come to this conclusion?" Shinji asked Rei, being a little surprised about her initiative.

"It was accordring to my collected experiences the best way," Rei told him. "And... I was partly reminded of my own status."

Shinji wanted to answer, but at this moment, Kensuke returned, a shy Mayumi following him. They all stood up to greet her. "I...I hope I don't intrude. I don't know anyone here and most people in my old school avoided me," the bespectacled girl told them a little nervous.

Mana felt that she would have to encourage the girl a little. "Oh no, we have learned that looks are not everything. We aren't most people, and it's their loss if they don't realise what they do. In a way we are outsiders as well..."

"Really...?" It seemed Mayumi really wasn't used to teenagers of her age treating her like this.

Mana gave her a warm smile. "Come, we will introduce ourselves..."

* * *

_...at the evening..._

Misato's mood wasn't the very best. She still remembered how the children had sucked her account mostly dry in some sort of revenge. They got their fun and she a headarche. At least yesterday had been nice, she had no idea that being the guest at a wedding could be so much fun together with Ryoji and Ritsuko.

Sitting at the kitchen table for dinner, Misato noticed that Shinji was in a good mood. "Is there any reason for your good mood?" she asked him.

"Oh, we made a new friend at school. She is really shy, but that's no wonder considering that she is treated like a social outcast," Shinji said, while doing the last touch to dinner.

Asuka waved it off, she already had made up her mind about Mayumi. "You mean that glasses-wearing nerd-girl? Pffft, she's as interesting as an empty soda can. Guess no girl can be top-intelligent and beautiful, aside from myself."

"That's not nice, Asuka," Misato scolded her. Misato knew that it was Asuka's way to keep up her self-respect, which otherwise would crumble away. She knew beneath the tough girl on the outside was someone very vulnerable.

"Yeah, you are in a serious need of an ego deflation. Rei is beautiful and has top grades, so come down from your throne," Shinji added, while serving their dinner, before sitting at his own place.

"Pffft, Wondergirl this, Wondergirl that. You worship the ground she walks on," Asuka brushed it off as if it was nothing. "And don't get a too big head yourself. I'm way smarter than you, and the best pilot there is! Remember this always!"

Misato felt that Asuka starting to show off her synch-ratio would be a bad conversation topic during dinner, so she tried to end it as fast as possible. "Better be careful. Shinji has caught up a lot in the last time. He is now only very little behind you. And Rei also manages to raise her score. And Toji and Hikari make good progress as well."

"Hrmpf!" That effectively shut up Asuka. Being reminded of the last synch-test results was the least she wanted. While she still held her score of 76, Shinji had managed to get up to 72 now. They all wondered how he did that, but they guessed he was a natural pilot. Something that pissed off Asuka who felt that she, who had worked hard for her pilot status, was challenged by this upstart.

_I don't get it why she thinks we are in a competition. We have to save the world, not show off who has the longest... _Shinji again wondered why she was so fixated on it. Ok, he would find it cool to become the best, but that was it. That stuff wasn't his life.

Thankfully she didn't mention it again.

After dinner was done, Asuka decided to watch something on TV, when she noticed Pen-Pen looking at her. Judging by his empty bowl, he had done so for quite some time. Asuka snorted. "Ha, what do you know?... I must be desperate...talking with a penguin..."

Pen-Pen watched her leaving, before making a beeline for his fridge. He had no desire to meet her again for the rest of the day.

* * *

_...two days later..._

"You know... the others are so exciting with saving the world and such stuff. I wonder why they want to be friends with me," Mayumi wondered, while she and Kensuke left the school. Mana was needed at the base, and the pilots had some training, meaning that it was only the two of them right now with school over.

"They aren't like that. From what they told me, they don't want this piloting stuff go to their heads. Especially since once the war is over, they wouldn't be needed any longer for piloting..."_Although that means I got almost zero chance to ever pilot one. -sigh- Guess I have to live with it..._ "Apart from Asuka, they are all right. She really thinks she is something better and treats anyone that didn't meet her strange standard like dirt." Kensuke winced when remembering the last time Asuka had deemed it a neccassacy evil to talk with him. The bruises had needed some days to fade.

Mayumi didn't comment on Asuka. The red-head hadn't spoken a word with her, only given her looks that spoke volumes. Thankfully the other pilots were nice, even if Rei was a really strange girl. She was still shy around them, her past experiences, including the recent ones, made it difficult for her to interact with people. To her surprise, it was easier for her to be around Kensuke. Propably because he had went through social isolation as well.

"They are nice... Most only see a girl with glasses." Mayumi had wished she could use contact lenses, they would have really reduced her nerd image, but a medical condition made that impossible. Her eyes did react harshly to the contacts, so she was stuck with glasses.

"Ha, they have no idea!" Kensuke snorted. "If they can't look beyond these to see that you are a good-looking girl, it's their loss." Only then he noticed what he had said. _Oh... Damn it! _Now he became nervous.

Mayumi felt her face heat up. No one outside the family had ever said something so nice to her. "Y-you really think I'm attractive?" she asked him careful.

"Well...I-I...uhmm...yes," he stammered. Hell, he had become really uneasy, wasn't used to this. Drooling over girls and letting his fantasies play out was one thing, but actually interacting with one was something different.

"T-thats one of the... most beautiful things I was e-ever told." Mayumi now stammered as well, also unused to anything like that. "Thanks..."

The went to the subway station for a minute in silence, before Kensuke could hold it in anymore and screamed aloud. "Gods, we must be the two most socially inept teenagers in this city! Our surroundings really fucked us over if I can't even say that you look attractive despite your glasses!"

She was a little scared by his outburst, but then she did understand him somewhat. "You had to get this out...?"

"Yes, now I feel better. I was at least lucky enough to have one friend in school before things finally changed for the better. But after what you told us about your life I feel really sorry for you. What right do the others have to use us like a doormat? I and my friends saw that you are really nice, you didn't deserve such a bad treatment!" He ranted, finally getting this out of his system.

Mayumi again blushed, she really wasn't used to someone actually speaking in her favor. And Kensuke had no idea he could get so angry. Most of the time he was more of a coward, so this surprised him, but maybe his pain tolerance had finally reached its limit.

"I'm not used to friends defending me," she finally said. "Actually, I'm not even used to having friends..." Finally they had reached the subway station. "I... I have to use a different route. Thanks for walking with me..."

"It was no problem."

Kensuke watched her walking down the stairs. _What's the matter with me? I had the most perverse fantasies, but now I get all jell-o. And she isn't even a girlfirend, only a new friend I met. Man, maybe Toji is right and I really should go out more..._

Trying to get his mind on different things for now, he remembered that a battle cruiser was expected to enter port today. He would be there to film it.

* * *

_...some days later in NERV..._

Another experiment connected to the project of building an auto-pilot for the Evangelions was made. Thankfully this one was by far easier than the last, to the relief of everyone involved, especially the pilots. It basically was just the pilots switching EVAs to see if they were compatible to a different unit than their own.

"Looks good. The pilots of Units 03 and 04 can switch without any noticable difference," Maya told Dr. Akagi, observing the synch-graphs.

"That's no wonder. These two production units don't have the quirks and problems of the first three Evangelions," Ritsuko added, writing down the results. "But the really interesting test is yet to come."

"You mean if Unit-01 is now less picky concerning its pilot?" Misato asked, while looking at Unit-00, which was readied for its own test. Unit-01 had only started to work after Shinji piloted it. Would it now work with Rei?

"That's actually the main reason, but we are also curios if Shinji can synch with Unit-00," Ritsuko answered. "You can tell the other two pilots that they are done."

Misato nodded, then went on to tell Hikari and Toji to hit the showers. She still hadn't fully recovered from her near financial ruin by some teenagers, but the two weddings she had attended as a guest together with Kaji and Ritsuko had made partly up for it. To her surprise, they really were all on their best behaviour and it had been a nice evening both times. There were two more weddings in the next weeks, but now she actually looked forward to them.

"Hey, Misato," Asuka asked, her picture appearing on the screen, "Why do I not have to make a compatibility-test and sit in Unit-02 as ever? Do you think I'm not good enough for it?" A slight disappointment swung in her voice.

"No, but we have an uneven number of pilots, and admit it, there would be no way you let someone else pilot Unit-02," Misato told her. "You have monopolised it." _And I have no clue about the actual compatibility of Unit-02..._

"Yes, I guess that's true." This returned her good mood. HER Unit-02 would also only listen to her, and no one else. If that wasn't a good thing.

Dr. Akagi, having heared the exchange, added from the side: "Besides, we try a different experiment with you. We test some new upgrades that could help holding your sych with the EVA stable."

Right then the door to the control room opened, revealing the Commander and Vice-Commander entering. Everyone not busy with an important task jumped to attention, but Gendo only waved them off, walking to the front of the observation window. "Continue as planned," he said, then looked over to Unit-00.

_What could he want here? Normally he wouldn't bother with tests like this... _Misato wondered. Normally the Commander would just read through the report, or ask Ritsuko for the results. So what was so important that he came personally?

Ritsuko wondered as well, especially since Rei wasn't in this cage but in the one with Unit-01. But then, the further Rei had started to root into the world outside of her main purpose, the more distant she and Gando had become. While he still had special plans for her, Ritsuko hadn't missed the rift, exactly as she had planned it. But for now they first had to test Rei in Unit-01.

"Start the test for Unit-01!" she ordered.

The entry plug was in position, and Rei waited for the start of the synch-process. She wondered a little if it would work. She had tried a number of times before to synch with Unit-01, before Shinji arrived, but nothing had happened at all. Would that now change?

Then she felt the beginning of the sychronisation process. The first few moments were unpleasant. It felt as if her very soul was strip-searched, as if Unit-01 seemed to judge her. But then she suddenly felt as if wrapped in a warm blanket, and she felt... approval. As if the EVA liked her. She couldn't make any sense of it, why would the EVA go through her mind? But that wasn't important for now.

EVA-01 allowed her to pilot it, that was important. _Why does it do so now? Is it because of Shinji piloting it? Is it because of me having a more fulfilled life now? _she nonetheless wondered. It was a mystery.

"This looks very good. Unit.01 is accepting the pilot and the synch-ratio is the same as in Unit-00," Maya reported to Ritsuko. None of them saw the small smirk on Gendo's face that lasted for two seconds, when he heared these news. It seemed that these news were very important for him.

"Rei, how do you feel?" Misato asked her.

"Everything is normal. I feel...good," Rei answered, while concentrating.

"Good, we now activate Unit-00," Ritsuko said in the background.

Shinji felt a little bit nervous when the plug was activated. It was the first time he was piloting a different EVA. But to his relief, everything went according to plan. But Unit-00 felt different in a way. In Unit-01, he felt welcome. Here, he only felt tolerated. Thankfully the com-window opened in the display, showing Rei.

"How do you feel, Shinji?" she asked him.

Her voice erased the remnants of nervousness he felt. "I'm all right. Thanks for asking, Rei. But your EVA feels different... colder... You know that I also can feel some remnants of your presence?"

Asuka linked in at that moment. "You can feel her presence? Gods, you sound like some pervert, Third."

"Asuka, be quiet. You disturb his concentration," Misato ordered, before that would go out of hand. "Good news, Shinji, you do well. The ratio is lower, but that was foreseeable."

"Good, I will try to do my best," he answered Misato.

"Despite the numbers being lower, this will be of good use for the dummy plug system," Ritsuko commented, when looking at the numbers.

"You know I would never go aginst orders, Sempai, but I feel this dummy plug project is a bad idea. The way it could be misused is horrible," Maya said uneasy when reminded of the reason for this experiment.

"I understand you uneasiness, Maya. But force yourself to see the good aspects only... That's how I manage to get through my job." Ritsuko didn't sound really convinced of it herself.

"I still have a bad feeling with this..." Maya said, returning her attention to the display. She could look Ritsuko into the eyes right now.

Misato listened to all this, but didn't comment it. Ritsuko had always been the type, that prefered to put the goal first. And in the last time she had been more tense than usual. Something had been on her mind and she even had cut back on her sarcstic comments. Misato knew Ritsuko for year, and it was clear that her friend was under some kind of mental pressure. And her defense mechanism usually was to surpress her emotions.

"We now should go to phase 2. Shinji, concentrate on deepening the connection," Ritsuko ordered.

Shinji nodded, but then felt something he couldn't describe. "Rei...?"

"Yes, Shinji?"

Shinji hesitated a little. "I don't know how to describe it... There is something else... It feels somehow strange..." While he said this, he thought to what would he have to do in a week, when he would visit his mother's grave. His anger at meeting his father there returned. And...something reacted to this anger.

Shinji felt something surging, and he somehow knew it was really bad news. "What the...? Rei... something is happening! Wait!... **WAIT!**"

Rei didn't hear more when the picture of a paniced Shinji was replaced with static. "SHINJI!" She didn't know what happened, but all of a sudden panic erupted within her.

Shinji's anger at his father echoed through Unit-00, and fell on open ears. Pain, the feeling of betrayal...and so much anger. And then it errupted in hate!

"The EVA is getting out of control!" Maya shouted, when suddenly all of the instruments sounded an alert that something was very wrong!

"Eject! Get him out of there!" Misato ordered, when she saw Unit-00 starting to trash around. Gods, it was almost like the last time it had run amok.

Maya franatically pushed the red abort button, but nothing happened. "We can't! We are totally blocked out of its systems!"

At this moment, the metal covering the EVA's mouth splintered, revealing sharp teeth. Its eye glowed an angry red, while it stared at the windows of the command room. **"G-g-g-geeeeeenddddooooo!"**It was like the voice of a horrible demon from the depths of hell, like metal scraped on rock. It was a frightening voice. Then the EVA tried to free itself from its restraints.

"Eject the cable!" Ritsuko ordered, overcoming her shock. The cable was ejected, but right then the EVA ripped off the restraints, roaring like an angry animal. Still staring at the window, its fists smashed around it, trying to destroy it.

**-WAMM- -BANG- -Skkkliiiiirr-**

"Get away from there!" Ritsuko urged Gendo, running to him, while the Vice-Commander had already run to safety. Gendo only did so when the window and frame were about to be destroyed, but Ristuko stumbled and fell, just when the huge fist ripped away the remains of the window.

Ritsuko felt as if her heart would stop. Unit-00's huge eye was no two meters away from her, staring at her. Unit-00 had suddenly become peaceful, staring at her, its eye losing the red glow. Ritsuko wondered what had stopped the EVA, and made it staring at her.

Right then the EVA stumbled away. **"Nnnnnnooooooooooooo! Rrrrraaaahhhhrrgghhhh!" **It let out an inhuman scream, starting to bash its head against the wall, before finally the batteries went empty.

"Get him out of there!" Misato was sick with worry. She didn't want to imagine what could have happened to Shinji. _Why did the EVA try to kill the Commander?_

Ritsuko was still mosty paralysed by her fear. She didn't fear much, but in the last minute she had almost wet herself in terror. And now there had been a new mystery for her. One that this time didn't stop to make her wonder.

A little later, Misato met Ritsuko in the research level.

"We have no idea what exactly happened...only that the EVA wanted to kill the Commander. We can't risk it to use any other pilot than Rei with it in the future," Ritsuko told Misato. "But the pilot wasn't hurt, he should wake up soon. Although I actually hope he forgot what happened, wouldn't be pleasant for him to have that in his head."

"At least something... We got away with a black eye. I want testing with her under secure protocols, to make sure that this couldn't happen with her as well," she ordered, before leaving. She wanted to see if Shinji was awake. Rei hadn't left his side. If the reason wouldn't be so serious, she would have smiled over this cute display.

Ritsuko looked after her. _The EVA wanted to kill Gendo. Exactly like last time. But when it saw me, it broke off its attack. Does Unit-00 not want to hurt me? Why does it want to protect me? What is the secret of Unit-00? I have to find answers, even if I have to dig into the dirt!_

And she felt it, Gendo was hiding something from her.

* * *

_...at the same time in a hospital room..._

"Urgh..." Shinji hated it to wake up in a hospital bed. Seeing the damn ceiling wasn't what he wanted to see. For his taste, already one time was one too much. But on the bright side, only seconds later he recieved a hug from no one other than Rei. "Rei...?"

"Shinji... I was so...worried about you." It seemed that right now the emotions threatened to overwhelm her. Rei was a calm person, it took quite a lot to make her react this strongly and lose her emotional control. It was witness how much she felt for him.

Shinji still felt a little fuzzy in the head, Unit-00 hadn't been gentle with him, so he waited until Rei let go of him on her own. "Thanks for being here. I would hate to wake up alone..." he thanked her. "You did sit here all the time?"

"It was the fitting thing to do, to watch over you... Shinji, what did happen that Unit-00 went out of control?" Rei asked him, still concerned.

Shinji tried to remember, but there was not much he actually could remember. "There isn't much... I only remember pain...the feeling of being betrayed...and anger. Pure anger. The only thing I do know is, that it wasn't mine." Shinji stopped for some seconds, then changed the topic. "Uhm...Rei, can you help me up? I'm still a little weak on the legs."

"Why? It would be better for you to rest until you are well," Rei wondered.

Shinji took a deep breath. He didn't really want to ask this, but he felt he had little other choice. "Look..I...I have to take a leak, and no way I use a bedpan, I have my dignity."

"Oh." This did make sense for her. She had been forced to use these things herself several times when she was in the hospital. In retrospect she felt that it was humiliating. "I will help you into the bathroom..."

Shinji gladly accepted Rei's help. And thankfully she did wait outside until he was done, before helping him back into bed. Shinji was thankful for that, some months ago she wouldn't have thought anything weird about watching him. Right then, Misato arrived in the room.

"You know you really scared us when we got you out and you didn't move," she said while Shinji made himself comfortable in the bed. "I hope this won't become a habit of yours to end up here."

"No way, Misato. I hate to wake up on to see this ceiling. Did they say when I can get out?" Shinji asked her.

"They say some hours. Some booster shots to get you back on your legs." Shinji felt that she was a little too cheerful when mentioning the shots.

Shinji grimaced. "I hate needles."

"Oh, come on! Do you want to be a man? Men aren't scared by needles," Misato teased him.

"Don't give me this shit, I hate needles and it has nothing to do with that." He hated it when Misato thought she could bait him by questioning his masculinity. It was childish and stupid. But then again, Misato wasn't the most serious woman outside of work.

But right now he had to accept that he was force to have a date with the needles he hated so much.

* * *

_...Gendo's office..._

"You suspected that something like this would happen," Fuyutsuki said, while placing another piece on the Go-board. He had observed Gendo closely during the whole test and the aftermath. And his observation was, that Gendo hadn't seemed too surprised that Unit-00 had run amok.

"Yes. I wanted to check my theory personally," Gendo said, while planning his next move.

"No doubt that your son's own anger against you ignited this reaction. It would be wise to keep him away from Unit-00 in the future, otherwise this will repeat... And I told you that the secret of Unit-00 will burn our hands. Dr. Akagi will now surely try to get behind this mystery. If she finds out, she will never want to work with us again," the Vice-Commander warned Gendo, while watching him make his move.

"And again professor, she can't desert us. She will be forced to stay on board until the bitter end..." Gendo dismissed his concerns. "And the experiment was successful, Unit-01 accepts Rei. This means we can start production of the dummy plug prototype."

"I wouldn't be too optimistic concerning that... Rei was most likely only accepted because Yui approves of her since she is close to your son. There is no guarantee that Unit-01 will accept a dummy system," Fuyutsuki cautioned him, making his next move on the Go-board.

"I know..." That was the only weakness in his plan. Yui had always been a strong-willed woman. Would she be duped by the dummy system? He had no idea how much control or influence she had over the EVA. They only knew now that if she didn't approve of the pilot, there would be no synch. But would she confuse the dummy system with the real Rei?

Why did Yui make it so difficult? She should be happy that he did so much to be with her again.

"It seems you think a little too much about her," Fuyutsuki remarked.

Gendo looked on the board. He had made a bad move, allowing the Vice-Commander to make the killing move, essentially losing the game to him already. This had never happened before. It seemed that thinking about Yui had distracted him so much that he had made an critical error in the game.

"A one time error. Probality says that this can happen," Gendo said, before setting the board for a new game.

_Says you. Talking about her really shows that you still have life inside you, despite all what you have done... _Kozo knew that Gendo didn't want to admit that, but it showed that the man still had a little life in himself.

* * *

_...in a apartment..._

Mayumi sighed, while sitting on the balcony of her apartment, overlooking Tokyo-3 tinted orange by the sunset.

She hated that she had to do that. But she had little choice. After the death of her parents, she had somehow ended up in the hands of some kind of secret organisation. She had no idea who they were or what they wanted, only that she hated them with a passion. They did...things to her, resulting in her being in horrible pain, if not for a daily injection directly into her stomach. But should the injections stop, her pain would return with a vengeance, and they were the only ones knowing how to cure her.

They had told her that she was unimportant, just picked by coincidence for an experiment. And when it had proven successful, they knew they had more use for her, now that they had easy leverage.

She was a spy. She was told to spy on the pilots, and report everything she deemed important enough once a week to them. Then she would get seven more shots for the next week. At first she had tried to be strong and deny them. She didn't want to misuse someone's trust. But in the end, the horrible pain became too much and she had given in to their demands.

And there was nothing she could against it. Defiance would result in no more shots and her in the end dying in pain. And even worse, no one would believe her all this, they would only laugh at her for spinning a fantastic story or even get her comitted.

She looked into her apartment. They provided her with everything to make a good living, but she knew at which price that came... She had to sell out her friends. If she only could... No, there was no way out of this trap for her.

She cursed fate. Why now of all times did she find people who looked behind her glasses, behind the bookworm? People who wanted to be her friends and not simply saw her as a nerd. Her whole life she had been the grey mouse that no one took notice of. The one who was always at the recieving end of jokes in school. And now, while she betrayed the trust of her new friends, she even found someone who actually found her attractive.

_Life stinks... _she resigned.

Feeling the first symptoms of the pain, she loaded a syringe with the shot for today. Lifting her shirt, she looked in disgust at the area beside her navel that showed the point where she would have to stick the needle into. One shot every day was bound to leave a mark. Some of the girls had been curios in the locker room, but she had told them that it was none of their business.

_I'm so pathetic... _She felt like a drug-addict, had bowed to these people because she was weak. Jamming the needle of the syringe deep into her at the right point, she again felt the short stab of pain when the needle penetrated her innards.

A lone tear escaped her, while the pain disappeared. The physical pain; the mental one stayed and still hurt her. While they had broken her body, they had kept her conscience intact. Propably to toment her even more in a perverse way.

"Please forgive me..."

* * *

_...and somewhere else..._

Kaji looked through the information one of his employers had found out. He knew that actually duping both, SEELE and NERV, and instead working for a third fraction, was dangerous to no end. But he felt he did the right thing. The things he did get out up to now were disturbing, to say the least. But both organisations had no idea that they had hired a triple-headed Janus. They at best would think the he would spy for one of them, but not for a third side that suspected something.

And yet there was another player. SEELE had let him know that Adam had been stolen by a unknown third party, and his own contacts had proven that it hadn't been his employers. That meant that there actually was a fouth party in the game as well. The stuff of headarches.

Going through the list, he felt that it would be quite some work, but then, if the information was right, it was a really big bomb. No one before had bothered to check it out. The selection of the last two children had aroused suspiction and started the investigation.

_The mysterious Marduk Institue, consisting of a big number of corperations of which also a big number are fishy. Ordered with finding pilots, but strangely inefficient until pilots are needed..._Kaji felt that SEELE and NERV were hiding something big there.

He would check it out, and if he hurried, he would be back for the next wedding. No way he would disappoint Misato.

_**to be continued...**_

_**Next Episode:**_

_**"The Spy who loves me"**_


	21. The Spy who loves me

I will say these things in advance: I have absolutely no rights at NGE, but you should have already known that.

The story itself is basically a re-telling of the original storyline, but twisted into my way. While at the beginning there seem to be only few divigances, it will become more with each episode. The people, their motivations and the backgrounds are while holding true to the basic layout, changed at my imagination in many details, so canon-purists now are allowed to flame me.

NOTE: I hate both, the ending of the TV series, and how End of Evangelion turned out. So don't expect any of those outcomes.

This is Shinji/Rei. When you read this chapter, NO this won't become a crossover. Just see it as a reminded that there were other people as well, who had lived through Second Impact. However, if the demand is there, I'll write a one-shot going into detail on that day and what happened.

For all the work I put into this, I would like to get reviews. I will always try to respond to every review I get.

* * *

**Chapter 20: The Spy who loves me**

"I really hope that there won't be any more artificial lakes near Tokyo-3. After the latest Angel, the last thing we need are even more big holes," Vice-Commander Fuyutsuki commented when looking over the latest addition to the new sea-area around Tokyo-3, made by Iruel.

Right now he and Gendo were returning from their inspection of the newly installed defense batteries. Not that they would be of any real use in battle, but they gave the population a sense of security, since a ghost town Tokyo-3 was the last they needed right now. And the new lake was directly under the helicopter.

The Vice-Commander then remembered something. "Oh...before I forget it. Keel himself deemed in neccassary to personally ask me yesterday about our various projects and the progress on the dummy plug. He seemed very impatient and suspecting something. Guess they want to hear the news from other sources as well."

"And he will hear nothing different... The dummy plug project has a good start, so he has no reason to worry. The only thing that is curious is, how they have managed to compensate the loss of Adam." Gendo was indifferent to the whole matter. "Why do they even ask, we know who their spy is."

"Yes, but Mr. Kaji won't find anything important, so it's a lost cause for them anyway. But he is too useful to simply send him away as well," Fuyutsuki reminded Gendo.

"Exactly. Should he come to close to our new plan, regardless how slim this possibility is, we can still eliminate him and SEELE couldn't put the blame on us," Gendo concluded, while the helicopter was advancing on Tokyo-3.

* * *

_...Kyoto..._

It was a shabby building a little better than a storage shed (although it was twice as big as his apartment) built of wooden planks. Standard storage house construction inside a residential area, address of a 'big' company of the Marduk Institute and completely empty apart from some junk and a never-connected telephone that looked as if it had come straight out of the 70's.

Ryoji had made that experience already several times, and this company was obviously another mailbox-dummy with nothing behind it. "Nothing started here 15 years ago. And I start to have a suspiction..."

His investigations about the Marduk Institute so far had been very interesting. There was clearly SEELE involved, showing that despite working for them, he hadn't been told everything. Actually he knew only some of the truths, but others eluded him, yet he had a clearer picture than many others. His true employers had also stepped up their own secret investigation after he had shown them that there clearly was something wrong with the whole thing.

_Well, here goes nothing... _He wanted to leave, when he heared something outside the front door, which was partly opened from the outside seconds later.

Gripping his revolver, he ran to beside the door. Had he attracted the attention of the ones who wanted to keep this a secret? Or was it just a burglar hoping for a quick Yen? If the former, he would have to use lethal force. If the latter, beating up would be enough.

"It's me."

Hearing the voice of his contact person, Kaji relaxed. It was genius. Who would suspect a woman in her forties, who looked like a normal housewife, working for the ones he was working for? "Sorry, thought it was the other side," Kaji apologised, opening the door a little more, to see the woman feeding some cats. "Guess you want to tell me the results of the search?"

"That too... Could you believe that this is Shannon Bio Inc., a foreign chemical company? Looks like this for over nine years already. Our own investigation was quite enlightening. Together with the others you looked at, 106 of the 108 companies forming the Marduk Institute, are dummy companies."

"And this here is number 107... Meaning that only the Institute company itself, the last one, is real. I think we can guess now who is directing the Institute, and that actually they don't search at all. I think they already know exactly who the potential pilots are," Ryoji concluded. It seemed SEELE and NERV had more secrets than he had first guessed.

"You decision to help us can't be valued enough. Otherwise we still would be mostly helpless against them, and whatever they plan," the woman told him.

"Yes, but I have by now hints, that these two plan different things. Ikari seems to brew his own soup, while SEELE has clearly different plans. Even the loss of Adam hadn't slowed it down. Any news on that?" Kaji asked.

The woman shook her head. "Nothing. My superiors are very concerned that this terrible weapon has fallen into unknown hands. But we are working hard to find leads directing us to the responsible party."

Kaji actually hoped this as well. Adam in the wrong hands could be devastating. "Good... But there is also something else NERV is hiding. I'm still working on it, but I can hopefully find some answers in due time."

"Ah yes, the secret of Terminal Dogma..." the woman realised.

"Trust me, there is dirt down there... And I will dig it up," Ryoji said confident. But before that he would have to attend a wedding tomorrow. He didn't want to disappoint Misato. And it wasn't that often that he, Misato and Ritsuko had a nice evening together. It was like old times.

Hopefully Misato would also understand his line of work once he would tell her. He knew he needed allies in NERV very soon, and Misato was the best one to approach first. He knew she was, despite some of her faults, very honest at heart. Once she knew what was at stake, he knew she would help him.

He really hoped that.

* * *

_...later that day, inside NERV..._

Everything was normal on that Saturday durning the regular synch-tests. As usual the children tried to think of something to get over the time during the boring test, knowing that their minds would do the work on their own. Dr. Akagi looked at the numbers. All of the pilots had become better, with exception of Asuka, who propably had reached her maximum synch-ratio by now and held her limit. 76 to 78 seemed to be the best she could do, and Shinji was now only two points behind her.

"You know what you'll wear tomorrow?" Ritsuko asked Misato while going through the raw data as if it was a well written book.

Misato looked up from her clipboard, knowing that her friend was referring to the wedding on Sunday. "Well, the pink dress I've worn at Kiyomi's wedding, and the dark blue at Kotoko's. Doesn't leave much selection for me."

"Why not the orange one? It looked good on you a year ago," Ritsuko suggested.

"Yeah, but there's a reason why I can't wear it..." Misto knew where this would again lead to. _Don't say it..._

"Guess it became too small a fit for you," Ritsuko realised with a slight smirk. It seemed that Shinji's cooking was having an unintended side-effect on Misato.

"Thanks for reminding me..." Misato growled. She swore, if anyone would tell her she had gained weight on her hips... Dropping her angry expression after some seconds, she sighed. "Looks like I have to buy a new dress. That, and the presents cost me a fortune. Everyone wants to get married before they turn 30!"

"Not my fault that you are often broke... But, yeah. And it seems that we are the only ones being left behind. I don't care... And judging by sight, maybe you still get hitched before you turn 30 next year..." Ritsuko noted.

"Don't joke about that. Ryoji and I might be on good terms now, but we still don't know if we can again be THAT close. And I doubt he is the type of man who strives for house, garden and kids," Misato reminded Ritsuko. Although after seeing how much to the better he had changed, the thought was tempting. Then she remembered what she still had to do today. "-groan- I still have to go through paperwork... Oh, and Ritsu, better don't ask Shinji about tomorrow. Later."

Ritsuko heared Misato leaving. She knew what tomorrow was. And this year could be quite explosive for the Commander. But setting this thought aside, she felt a frustration growing inside herself. She had tried a number of things to get out what the big secret with Unit-00 was, but got nothing. It was as if someone liked to make her look like a fool by sending her on a wild goose chase. But she wouldn't give up. There were still other ways to get closer to whatever it was.

Telling the children that they were done for today, she went to retreat to her office. She had more leads to check.

Twenty minutes later Shinji was waiting for Rei to come out of the locker room. Toji had already left. He had told Hikari in advance that there was a basketball game against a school from another city, and he was in the team, so he had to leave early. Hikari had understood. She wished him well and that their school would gain victory. A most likely outcome, Toji was one of the best players, and together with his core team, he would clean their clocks.

Waiting, Shinji knew Rei was always first to come out, her knack for efficiency making her far less prone to the female habit of needing so damn long in the locker room. And his prediction was right, when Rei walked out of the door, without Asuka or Hikari in sight.

"Hello, Rei," he greeted her, a little nervous. The thing he was about to ask her was quite serious, he hoped she would agree.

"Shinji." By now Rei had experienced enough of Shinji's behaviour that she knew he wanted to tell her something. So she waited what he could want to ask her.

Shinji knew that her silence meant a 'go on'. "Rei, do you have anything planned tomorrow?" he asked her.

Rei thought about it. Her regular memory dump had been last Sunday, so tomorrow she actually had nothing to do at all. "No, I do not have any plans for tomorrow. Why do you ask?"

"Rei, tomorrow is the day on which my mother passed away... I want to visit her grave near Tokyo-2. And... I want to ask you: do you want to come with me? I want to introduce you to her," Shinji told her, his voice a little unsteady.

Rei needed some moments to actually realise the sigificance of what Shinji asked her for. She had read a book about Shinto, the still most widespead religion in Japan, since she had been told it would be good to help her understand people. And she had read that a offer to accompany someone to an ancestor's grave is only given to someone really, really close outside of the family.

_He thinks of me as so close... _Rei felt her heart starting to beat faster when the deeper meaning of this offer sank in, because her also wanted to 'introduce' her to his deceased mother, meaning he was seeking his mother's blessing for...for someone he felt deeply for. Despite her knowing she was his girlfriend, every new evidence of how much he felt for her warmed her anew.

_He does care much for me; he said and proved so quite often. But... I actually feel that I want more than just that... _"I will come with you. You make me feel special that you want me along," Rei finally said. Uncharacteristically she had to kill the train of her thought before it would come to certain ideas she deemed unsuitable for now.

"I... thank you Rei. But I want to warn you that my father will also be there... And I fear this year it could be ugly..." Shinji warned Rei.

Rei by now knew of Shinji's opinion of the Commander quite clearly. And she had also witnessed the few times these two had met, which resulted in icy glares from both sides. There was no love lost between these two. But the more she had grown on Shinji, the more she had started to dislike the Commander as a person. Granted, he was good at his job, and she still would follow through with his plans if he ordered her, but the way she would confide in him like she did a year ago, that was ultimately gone.

"I will be there. Do not doubt that." And to prove it, she gave him a small kiss on the cheek. Shinji's nervousness finally dissolved. Taking Rei by the hand, both of them went to elevator to leave for home.

Asuka and Hikari, having come out of the locker room sometime during the dilogue, looked after them. Hikari with a smile, Asuka with a frown. Hikari realised pretty fast that seeing this threatened to make Asuka's mood go into the negative area. Thankfully she wanted to ask her something anyway.

"Asuka, do you have anything planned tomorrow?" Hikari asked her friend.

"Sadly, no. I wish there would be anything to do in this city..." Asuka complained. Tokyo-3 might be a well-planned city, but for her tastes it was a little too boring. No competition for Berlin, Frankfurt or Hamburg.

"Great! Could you do me a big favor?" Hikari then whispered something into Asuka's ear. No need for security to hear that.

"A date?" Asuka asked, sceptical.

Hikari should have expected this reaction. Thankfully by now she knew what kind of men Asuka wanted. "He is a friend of Kodama, my big sister. He heared of you and asked me to help him get a date with you. He's a student at the university and nothing like these school boys. Please, can you do it?"

Asuka thought about it. _Older means he's most likely a man already, and university means he must be smart. Maybe he's worth a shot. I can still ditch him should he not live up to my expections._

She decided that it couldn't hurt to test it out. She was bored enough already, and it also meant to get away from the happy pair for some time. "Alright, I'll do it. But tell him that he should better mean it serious."

* * *

_...Misato's apartment, evening..._

Asuka sat bored in front of the TV, munching potato chips, watching some sort of lame soap opera. She had learned to detest the japanese TV program. In her opinion it was mostly trash or totally unhumorous, making her wonder how it could be seen as something good. At least Shinji was quiet, sitting at the kitchen table, using his laptop. That's the way she wanted him to be, staying away from her, minding his own business, and no Wondergirl anywere near, as she had already went to sleep.

Thinking of tomorrow, she tried to decide what to wear. Maybe she would really thank Hikari for giving her a date with a real man. If not, she wouldn't even mention it. _Let's see...I haven't worn the green one for some time. Yep, that will do nicely._

"I'm back!"

"Hello Misato," she greeted her guardian half-hearted. Seeing her with a shopping bag was already answer enough, since she knew Misato was propably again invited to a wedding. "I hope you didn't have to take a loan to buy that."

"Very funny... You told me you have a date tomorrow, so better go to bed," Misato reminded her. And why did everyone have to make jokes about her finances?

"Yeah, with a medical student...hope he lives up to his intellect." Asuka then remembered something she wanted to ask Misato. "Oh, Misato, can I use your lavender perfume tomorrow?"

Misato knew Asuka wanted to appear older than she was, but no chance she would get her hands on her expensive lavender parfume! "No! That stuff is nothing for kids."

"Your'e just stingy!" Asuka complained, disappointed. "And don't call me a kid! That's insulting!"

Misato wanted to retort, when Shinji walked out of the kitchen, closed laptop under his arm. "Geez, as soon as you're home, Asuka at once wents in full brawl mode."

If that did something, it was to make Asuka angry. "What? You little..."

Shinji knew by now that Asuka was so easy to anger, that it didn't matter if he tried to be nice, or not, she would get piss off at him anyway since she disliked him. And she might have a big mouth, but by now he knew that there was still distance to go before she would get violent. "Call me what you want, I go to bed. Tomorrow is important, and I don't want to oversleep or I miss the train to Tokyo-2."

Asuka watched Shinji disappear into his room. _How dares he to simply brush me off like this! _**"YOU DAMN BAKA! DO YOU HEAR? YOU WILL REGRET THIS!"**

"Asuka! Be quiet, or their neighbors want your head," Misato warned her.

Asuka sulked. First Shinji-baka insulted her, and now Misato told her to shut up. It seemed for her right now was tell-Asuka-down day, and that pissed her off to no end. "Don't think I will let this sit on me!" she hissed to Misato, her mood now ruined. Then she stormed into her room, slamming the sliding door shut.

Again Misato wished she could still drink herself into oblivion. "What have I done to deserve this madhouse?"

* * *

_...Tokyo-2 graveyard, next day..._

It was a bright and peaceful day, with no clouds on the sky, at the big graveyard of Tokyo-2. The wondeful, warm weather giving even this depressing place a lighter note. One of the grave markers read "Yui Ikari 1977-2004". It was an empty grave, since her body had been totally destroyed, but it was mainly for symbolism.

It was where Shinji was kneeling, while telling his mother of Rei. He knew she couldn't really hear him, but he felt she at least deserved to be held in memory, so it was symbolical that he told her everything about Rei to seek her approval. It was only good what he could tell her about Rei, and how much he felt for her. Every mother would want her son to date such a nice girl.

It seemed Rei had realised this, too.

Standing beside Shinji, she felt that she had become redder than ever before in her entire life. No kind of embarrassment had made her blush so heavy. It were all these nice things Shinji told his mother about her. He told her what a wonderful girl she is, how nice and understanding. How she has a pure heart and strong spirit. How he really likes her. That and more. Much more. It was a show of how deep his feelings for her were.

It made her feel very warm around her heart. It made her feel loved.

But the moment was interrupted after Shinji was almost done with telling his mother everthing about Rei, when a alien shadow fell on theirs. Looking to behind selves, they saw Gendo Ikari standing there. Even now, visiting the grave of his wife, hid body language was the same coldness as ever.

_What is she doing here? _Gendo wondered. By now he had temporarily accepted the closeness of Shinji and Rei, since there could be nothing done about that. But Shinji had always come to this grave alone, so why now the change?

Rei stayed silent, she had no idea how to react to this situation. Shinji on the other hand felt the same he felt every year, being angry that his old man, who had turned out to be a bastard deluxe, still dared to come here. His mother's memory didn't deserve to be darkened by his presence. He had ignored him all these years, but he wouldn't do so this year.

"You have a lot of nerves coming here, after all you did to spit on her memory," Shinji said slowly. "Why do you even bother?"

Gendo had expected this. The sparse contact they had because of NERV had been enough to make his son even more set against him. "My motives are none of your concern. You wouldn't understand them anyway."

"Bullshit, I bet this is just something you do out of habit, nothing more. I would say nastier things, but since you are, much to my loathing, my boss, I don't want to risk getting fired. But I know that she, wherever she is now, will never forgive you."

"What you think about me doesn't interest me. And you aren't qualified to know how Yui thought. I knew her, you didn't," Gendo said coldly.

"I have no idea what she saw in you... She would be ashamed to see you right now." Shinji then looked to Rei, ignoring his father completely. "Rei, we have the whole day, do you want to come with me to Tokyo-2?"

Rei had witnessed the confrontation, and a part of her...felt sad that these two had so much drifted apart. But setting these thoughts aside, she decided she would take up to this offer. She hadn't been anywhere important outside of Tokyo-3, and her curiosity had been awakened. "I would... like that, Shinji."

Gendo watched them leave, hand-in-hand. _This has totally gone out of control... And whenever they get close, I see her face... _He looked down to the grave, where fresh flowers had been set down. "You are wrong, son. Yui will forgive me. She knows that I did all just for her."

Gendo disliked this place, since he knew exactly were Yui really was, but it was part of the ritual to keep up appearances. Yui would understand... After all she had always understood why he had done things.

"Soon... Very soon we will be together again."

Standing there, waiting for his airlift, Gendo planned ahead for the next steps. There were six Angels left that had to be eliminated. Then he would put though his new plan, before SEELE could do whatever they had planned.

He WOULD be with her again.

Nothing would stop him...

Over two hours later saw Shinji and Rei walking through Tokyo-2.

Rei didn't say much, she was still surprised how much more alive this city was. Compared to Tokyo-3, it was huge. No wonder, since it was the capital of Japan after old Tokyo had perished. Shinji pointed out landmarks to her, like the T-Tower, which was built to look exactly like the destroyed Tokyo Tower, or the new palace of the Tenno. And the city felt different. Tokyo-3 was built on a single plan, and the city always screamed that. It felt artificial. But this city felt different, like a living organism, despite it being built after the Second Impact as well. Rei couldn't explain neither why she felt like that, nor why she never had felt so before.

"Well, Rei, what do you think of this city?" Shinji asked her, his good mood back after the confrontation two hours ago.

This shook her out of her thoughts. Another trait she had developed, she no longer was 100 percent attentive to her surroundings. "It is different. The city itself and its inhabitants are different from Tokyo-3. It... feels... different for me," she honestly answered. The abstract feeling of the difference was hard to describe for her.

"Hard to imagine that the city is only 15 years old, right? It actually always made me wonder why the city of tomorrow, Tokyo-3, is so much colder in atmosphere than my home for so many years. Despite them both being so young," Shinji remarked.

"It could be because Tokyo-3 is specifically built as a fortess city," Rei suggested.

Shinji had to admit that it could be that. Tokyo-3 was built functionally, while Tokyo-2 was built for living. "Well, regardless what it is, it's enough for me that you like it here." He got one of her angelic smiles as an answer, and that was enough for him. "I would love to also introduce you to my uncle, but he lives at the other end of the city, and it's not connected by public transport. Next time I should tell him in advance..."

Rei knew that Shinji's uncle Kaldor, who had raised him, really had to be a nice man after all the good things she had heared from Shinji about him. "After all you told me about him, he must be a interesting man."

"Trust me, he is...oh." Looking on his wristwatch, he saw that it was already past 1 PM. "I had no idea that it is already almost after lunch hour...ooof!" Shinji was interrupted when someone ran into him, knocking him down to the ground. Looking up, he saw a man in his late thirties, wearing shirt and jeans and his black hair in a ponytail, standing there beside a woman with black, barely shoulder-length hair.

"Oh, sorry! I didn't see you! I..." Shinji wondered why the man had stopped. He seemed to look at him for some seconds, then he showed recognition. "I never forget a face. It looks like my advice did you good," he suddenly said, while helping Shinji up.

Looking closer, Shinji only now recognised the man. He had almost forgotten him by now. The jogger he had met in the park all these months ago. The one who had helped him when he had no clue how to react to his feelings for Rei. And he had never known his name.

"Now I regognise you! You are the jogger who I met in the Tokyo-3 park some months ago," Shinji said. I was really strange that he had met this man again. "I must thank you. Your advice helped me and my friend to overcome our problems, Mr...Mr..."

"Oh, stupid me! I'm Ranma Saotome. And this picture of beauty here is my wife Akane," the man introduced himself and his wife.

"You laid this a little thick, baka, I'm no Amazon. But that's why I love you," the woman, Akane, said with a smile.

Shinji wondered a little what this comment was about, but then he remembered his manners. "I'm Shinji Ikari. And this nice girl with me is Rei Ayanami, my girlfriend."

"Hello," Rei greeted them. She hadn't yet an idea how to react to these strangers.

"Nice to meet you, Ayanami. Say, do you have any ancestors that came from China?" Mrs. Saotome asked, looking at the girl's hair.

Rei wondered about that strange question. What had China to do with her hair? But she knew that only japanese woman were used in her genetical mix, and that her blue hair was a genetic glitch caused by the Angel DNA. "No, my lineage does not come from China," she said honest.

"Oh, I thought..." she was interrupted by a loud growl from her husband's stomach. "Guess that beast needs to be fed."

"We wanted to take our lunch anyway. Do you know any good places that also offer vegetarian stuff?" Shinji asked. He felt these two had quite a story to tell, and he really wanted to hear that now.

Ranma smiled when he knew the answer. "In fact, I do. It's close and a friend owns it."

20 minutes later they were in a nice okonomiyaki place, enjoying their lunch while starting to get each other better known. For the fact they were total strangers to each other, they got along quite well. It seemed the Saotomes were like people you couldn't help but to like.

Shinji had never thought that an okonomiyaki place could also offer vegetarian okonomiyaki. But judging by Rei's eagerness to eat it, she must really like it, as this was already her second helping.

The restaurant was owned and run by a brown-haired woman and her husband, Mr. Saotome had introduced them as friends of the family. Shinji and Rei both knew they couldn't say what they were actually doing, when they come to introducions, but they at least didn't need to lie, either. So they simply said they still went to school in Tokyo-3.

In return however, they learned quite a bit about the Saotomes and the Kuonjis, the owners of the restaurant. The Saotomes had three children, two sons and one daughter, while the Kuonjis had only one daughter. They mentioned that right now, Ranma's mother was with them, since she really adored her grandchildren. They owned a martial arts dojo and made good money with it. It got interesting when Mr. Saotome mentioned that life got boring after Second Impact.

"Ranma, it got old by then! I was about to have a crisis by then! Being pregnant and having to see some weird-o challenging you every week got on my nerves. I'm glad that our lives calmed down," Akane scolded her husband.

"Excuse me, I heared that before. What is that with life getting boring after the Impact?" Shinji asked, curios.

"You know, in our youth we managed to gather quite a number of enemies, rivals, jealous and envious people or some that are simply annoying. Our lives were pretty chaotic. Then came the Impact... And it literally destroyed all these people and turned our lives into normal waters. Most of the regular ones were in Tokyo, already planning how to make our lives hell, when it happened... I discovered their remains later..."

Ranma remembered all that too well. Tokyo had become mostly ruined on that day, but thankfully all his loved ones had survived. But all that had something against him were gone. And he had later been told that a certain province in China had been orbiliated by a big fragment that had been hurled away from exploding Antarctica, leaving a huge carter lake behind. It was as if after all the shit in his life, fate decided to do him a favor in the midst of the disaster, a sort of sick compensation.

Shinji felt that they left out some things. Maybe it was too private to talk about it. "Thank all Gods that I don't have so many enemies. The only one I hate is my old man..."

"I think I better don't ask, why. Your bitterness alone tells me that this is forbidden ground," Akane remarked. Not even her husband had been so frosty about his own father, despite his father being a total idiot.

Rei looked up after finishing her second helping, remembering the strange question about her hair. "Why did you inquire if my ancestors came from China?" she asked them. Maybe there was a logical explanation behind it?

"It's because of your unusual hair color. I knew people from China who had the most unusal hair colors. However they were all killed in the Impact. It simply made me wonder," Mr. Saotome clarified.

"Ah." It was a logical explanation, although it made Rei wonder how a hair color like hers cold occur naturally, since hers was an scientific accident and normally the human DNA had no capacity for these colors.

* * *

_...some time later..._

Saying good-bye, Shinji and Rei left to see some more of the city before returning to the railway station for the train home. Talking with the adults had become even more interesting when Mrs. Kuonji had went on break, explaining a strange love triangle that had existed between herself and the Saotomes in their youth. After that Shinji understood much better the advice he had been given so long ago.

Shinji pocketed the card with the adress of the dojo. They had said, should he look for some training, they were the best place to look for it. Also they had said that they were welcome to visit, if they wanted. In these days it wasn't so common to see people that were so open to even people they only knew for a short time.

They didn't hear the whispered comments about Rei's aura being as bright as a christmas tree.

"Well, Rei, what do you think of them? I for my part find them really nice, especially if you remember that we are practically strangers to them," Shinji asked Rei, while they walked down the street.

Rei didn't exactly know what to make of the situation. That these total strangers had been so nice and open to them. While she had read about it in books, she had also read that this part of the culture had been mostly lost after the Impact. "I agree. But it was unusual. Will you ever take Saotome-san up to his offer?" she asked Shinji, referring to the card.

Shinji thought about it for a second. "Maybe when this mess is over. I... Rei, do you plan to stay in Tokyo-3 after this Angel-mess is over? I know I have my friends there, but the city isn't really that great a place to live at."

"I..." She actually had no idea. Her purpose had left it nebulous if she would actually survive it. But while she hadn't cared before, she now knew there were people who waited for her. She wanted...to live. "I have no idea. I want to be with you, this is all I know for now."

Rei leaned closer to Shinji, while they walked down to the city park. They wanted a quite place for now, to enjoy each other a little.

* * *

_...early evening..._

Nearing their apartment building, Shinji had to admit that apart from the confrontation with his father at his mother's grave, the day had been very pleasant. And they had met very nice people, too. And it seemed Rei thought so as well, since she still hadn't let go of his arm.

However, them enjoying each other was interrupted when they met Asuka at the building door. She looked quite miffed, while still dressed for her date. Shinji knew on the first glance the something had went wrong on her date. "I thought you are on a date? Why are you back so early?"

Asuka was annoyed enough over her so-called date, that she even ignored Rei's presence. "That student was a total disappointment. Oh, he was quite intelligent, but also the typical nerd. He was boring and treated me like a little kid! He took me to an amusement park! An**AMUSEMENT PARK**!"

Shinji shook his head to Rei, when he saw her being about to say something. So she stayed quite while Asuka ranted on.

"I can't believe this guy even wanted a date with me! I ditched him at one of the rides. That was the last time I allow Hikari to pick a date for me!" All that said, her anger had spent itself. "Why the hell do I tell you all this?"

"Guess you had to get that out," Shinji remarked. No need to make her angrier than she already was.

"Don't even bother looking for me. I have a more important date right now: with me bed!" That said, she stomped away, obviously still having frustration in her system.

"Pilot Soryu seems to be very... unhappy with how her day had turned out," Rei remarked after Asuka had left them alone at the entrance.

"That's an understatement. And the worst is that we have to endure her bad mood tomorrow," Shinji groaned. Nothing was worse in school than Asuka with really bad mood. When some boy of the grade below them had speculated a little too loud during her last really bad mood period that she might be PMSing, she had threatened in front of most of the school to tie him to a streetlight with a rather personal body part.

Thinking about it, Shinji didn't even want to know how irritated Asuka could become during _that_. "I wonder how Misato is doing right now..."

Misato actually did quite well.

The wedding had been again quite a nice celebration, and it was always good to meet old friends. Ritsuko had been able to relax a little from her apperant work-related stress, and Misato had really a good time with Ryoji Kaji, especially during the dance. And... she had been quite embarrassed when it was actually her who had caught the bouquet, the legend telling that the woman who caught it would marry next. This had gotten her and Ryoji quite some amused looks by the ones who were able to decypher the signs.

Right now they were sitting in a bar overlooking the big lake of Tokyo-3, with the city sitting brightly lit an the other end. Misato felt somewhat stupid that while Ritsuko and Kaji had something alcoholic, she had a mineral water. But she simply hadn't any tolerance for alcohol anymore. Although Ryoji said that it was a good thing.

Feeling all these non-alcoholic drinks now wanting to get out, she excused herself before walking into the restroom.

"You know, since you two got on good terms again, she seems to be happier. Would have never thought that after the way how you parted ways," Ritsuko commented after Misato had vanished behind the door. "Both of you have changed."

"I know. I would have never pictured her in high heels back then. Thinking about it, we actually get better along than back then, of course apart from the one obvious thing..." Kaji knew he shouldn't have said this when seeing Ritsuko smirk. "It seems much more serious now, than back then."

Ritsuko remembered how immature for their age both Misato and Ryoji had been back then. "You know while she seemed embarrassed when she caught that bouquet, I saw that dreamy look she had for some seconds. Guess she imagined herself in a wedding dress..."

"Ahhh... You know the whole macho act had really cost me much strength. Being my sarcastic, wonderful self is really helping me... And who knows, maybe Misato and I really come so far after this mess is over," Kaji remarked.

"Yes, but at first you have to survive." Ritsuko's voice dropped when she said this, her expression becoming serious.

"What are you talking about?" he asked her innocent.

"Don't try to fool me. I know you work for our true employers, snooping around for them. I give you a good advice: stop that. Otherwise you won't have much time to enjoy with Misato. That's a dangerous thing that you do," Ritsuko warned him. She knew SEELE employed him to spy on them.

"Ritsu...Ritsu... Don't you think I don't know that? Trust me, neither them, nor the Commander will gain anything from it, apart from my amusement that they both have the same plan..." Kaji stopped when he saw Misato returning. "Guess you also re-applied your lipstick."

"There are some things you better don't know about us woman..." Misato remarked, while returning to the seat beside Ryoji.

"Well, you two have fun, I need to bail out now. Got a lot of work tomorrow and I can't do it half asleep," Ritsuko said, feeling that she really should leave these two alone. They needed some alone-time.

"You only live for your work," Misato complained. Ritsuko had always been like that. No wonder she had never found a boyfriend.

Ritsuko shugged. "Hey, you like men, I like my work. Everyone has something to get happy." Ritsuko then left the bar after paying her debt. She hoped Kaji would heed her advice. Misato deserved it that he wouldn't try to get killed because of his double-job. She might not like SEELE spying on them, but at least it was the evil they knew.

* * *

_...later at the evening..._

It was a wonderful night, the moon bright white in the dark sky, while Misato and Ryoji walked back to Tokyo-3 on the path at the shore of the lake. Sure, it would have been faster to use the train, but they liked it this way. Leaving shortly after Ritsuko, they could enjoy this clear night. They had almost reached the city, when Kaji broke the silence.

"It is really a beautiful night to walk under the full moon," Ryoji remarked. Despite him knowning how cheesy that was, he felt that it fit.

"You know, we have changed... But only now after seeing how much you have changed, I can see that you have become a different man. I really like this man that you are now," Misato remarked. Going out with him had been a real eye-opener. The Kaji of old would have been quite different.

"Really, how do you think I've changed?" Kaji asked her, curios.

"You are much more serious now. Back then, you took nothing serious, and now you know exactly when you need to be. I really like it... Also you are now acting much more responsible and mature. And yet you can be so nice..." Misato didn't notice the dreamy look she had.

"Thanks... I know. I finally had to grow up. But I must thank you, too. I would have continued to use my macho image if you wouldn't have told me it's shit..." Ryoji then seemed to think. "But you are right, you have changed, too. You were like me, living into the day. Looking at you now it seemes you were finally forced to adapt to life. That, and you no longer drown yourself in alcohol. No offense, but even back then your consumption rate was disgusting..."

"You can thank Shinji for getting me dry, I now feel much better without it. -sigh- I still have some issues, but I by now feel much more confident to shoulder them..." Stopping, she looked over the lake. "Ryoji, I've thought about us. Before I was unsure. But seeing the man you've become I really want us to start coming closer again. Closer than we are right now."

Kaji knew what she meant with it. "Does this mean you want me back into your life? Completely? As your boyfriend and later more?"

"Yes, but you need to give me some time...before _that._" Misato knew Ryoji understood what 'that' meant. "It's been years since I last had a boyfriend, actually I had none since you. I need time to get used to it again."

Both of them found it refreshing. Talking without barbs, without smart comments and without anger.

"Don't worry. I will give you all the time you need..."

Some time later, Shinji was still busy with going through some papers he had to go through for school. He had waited for it until today and now regretted this lazyness. Judging by the sounds from Asuka's room, the girl was unable to sleep, still too angry over her botched date. He also wondered what took Misato so long. It wasn't like her to be so late, unless something came up.

Finally he heared the door open. "I'm back!" Misato called, walking in together with Ryoji Kaji. And both seemed in a very good mood.

"Hello Misato," Shinji greeted her, but stopped when he looked to Kaji. "Mr. Kaji, why do you have lipstick in your face?" he wondered aloud.

"Oooops!" Kaji did good to fast remove this incriminating evidence with a hanky. No need to parade around that he and Misato got on that track. "Well, it was a wonderful evening, but I better say goodnight now!" With a smile, Mr. Kaji left.

Shinji didn't want to ask what exactly had happened, but then he noticed that Asuka, obviously having heared everything, looked disgusted to Misato. "You are really disgusting, Misato. But obviously you know that yourself!" She then slammed her door back shut.

"Shinji?" Misato wondered what had happened to make Asuka this snappy.

Shinji felt that tomorrow would be even worse than he had first thought. At least there were no tests, so their contact would be limited to school. Still bad enough. "You don't want to know... I think it will be enough to say that her date went bad."

"Ah." Misato felt that it would be wiser to stay away from Asuka for a while.

* * *

_...the next day, deep inside Terminal Dogma..._

"Regardless what kind of secret you hold behind this gate Ikari, it won't be a secret for much longer..." Ryoji quietly said to himself, while hacking through the security lock. He knew that this top security place at the lowest level of Terminal Dogma was labeled as the LCL plant, but things didn't add up, and SEELE also hadn't told him anything. And now, after much work, he was only seconds away from revealing the secret. Ikari didn't seem concerned about him snooping around, obviously he assumed he already knew about this place from SEELE.

Finally the electronic lock showed the clearance, he only had to swipe his constructed card through the reader. But right then he felt the muzzle of a gun at the back of his head. "Hello Misato... Guess you did find out where I suddenly vanished to."

"It wasn't that hard. Who are you spying for? The government?" Misato accused him. She felt a little hurt that Ryoji hadn't told her anything about it. They had come close again, and she disliked that he held something from her.

"You puzzled it together on your own... Close, but actually it's them and the UN who share the reason for using my services, so they co-employ me under a single contract," Ryoji openly admitted. He had no reason to hide it from her any longer.

"You must be stupid. Better stop that, or the Commander will order you killed, or you disappear to be never seen again," Misato warned him.

"I don't think so. Ikari is also using me as a spy, and he doesn't know who really sent me. He thinks it's the ones he works for, not knowing that I dupe them, too. There is far more behind all this than you know. I wanted to tell you soon, because I will need your help," Ryoji explained to her.

"What to you want to tell me with that? And why should I help you with betraying NERV?" Misato wondered. "Gods, Ryoji, we haven't patched up things and got close again, only to see you write your death sentence."

"Don't worry, Misato... I know how far I can go. And as for what I want to tell you... They hold things back from you. Many things... Things like this." He swiped the card through the reader, and the huge gate opened.

Misato gasped when she saw what was behind the gate. In the middle of a huge room, some of the walls made of metal but otherwise a natural cavern, was a huge cross, with a white being nailed on it. Or better, a half-being, since it looked as if ripped in half, with its lower body missing. A lance was stuck in its chest. It bled from a wound, and its orange blood created a lake in the cavern, with pipes sucking the blood away. Misato recognised it as pure LCL. Looking at the white-skinned being, its seven eyes not reacting to the world, she knew it only could be an Angel.

She was reminded of the huge white-glowing giant that had shattered her world so long ago. "Ryoji... Is that...?" She had been told what the monster had been named. She had never used the name, since she found it to be a cynism to name the monster after the biblical first human. "Is that... Adam?"

"No..." Ryoji corrected her. He himself had no idea what this Angel was. But it couldn't be good news. "Adam was stolen from the geofront by an unknown fourth party during the power loss. Whatever this Angel is, it has to be very important for the Commander."

Misato felt her heart almost stop. The beast had been so close to her? "Ryoji... What the hell is going on?"

"Misato, there is far more at stake than you were told. There are secrets, horrible secrets. I know who is pulling the strings, the REAL strings... I can't force you, but I can offer it to you. I can tell you everything. But remember once I did so, there will be no way back," he reminded her.

Kaji was more serious than he had ever been before. He was really concerned what could happen to Misato once she would be in on the whole thing. The government and UN wouldn't like him telling her, but he would personally vouch for her integrity. And he didn't want to lose her now. Not after they had come so far.

Misato wasn't naive, she knew the world wasn't simply black and white. And she knew that there were certain things about NERV she didn't know. But after what Ryoji already had told her, and the Angel in front of her... She felt her loyality to NERV in serious decline. She also felt disappointed that Ritsuko had so many serious secrets from her. And while she was still a soldier at heart, she felt that the truth had turned out to be much more important than she had first guessed.

"Let's go... We have to find a place where we can talk," she finally decided. "I want to know everything... my faith in NERV got some ugly scratches... I finally want answers."

Kaji knew, this was the point of no return. She would be as much as he in it from now on, only that he was far more at risk. But he also knew that despite the danger, Misato had decided to follow her sense of justice. And it felt good that she had chosen to play in his team.

After all, he didn't any longer have to keep it from her.

_**to be continued...**_

_**Next Episode:**_

_**"Leliel"**_


	22. Leliel

I will say these things in advance: I have absolutely no rights at NGE, but you should have already known that.

The story itself is basically a re-telling of the original storyline, but twisted into my way. While at the beginning there seem to be only few divigances, it will become more with each episode. The people, their motivations and the backgrounds are while holding true to the basic layout, changed at my imagination in many details, so canon-purists now are allowed to flame me.

NOTE: I hate both, the ending of the TV series, and how End of Evangelion turned out. So don't expect any of those outcomes.

This is Shinji/Rei. Now, this episode will be VERY different. And when you spot what I did (and what cost me quite some time to do), then don't hesitate to comment on it.

For all the work I put into this, I would like to get reviews. I will always try to respond to every review I get.

* * *

**Chapter 21: Leliel**

It was a Saturday morning in the Katsuragi apartment. Asuka was busy in the bathroom, while Misato and Shinji already enjoyed their breakfast. Rei had joined them today, since they would have tests later that morning and she didn't want to be alone before leaving with them. She even accepted Asuka's evil glares for this. Shinji noticed that Misato was again a little quieter than usual, but he had no idea why that was. They were enjoying their miso soup, when suddenly they heared a yelp from the bathroom.

It didn't take long for Asuka to appear, angry. At least this time she was wearing a towel (she had no desire to repeat what had happened at her first day). "Why the hell is the water scalding hot?" she snarled, especially into Shinji's direction.

Shinji felt like groaning. In the almost two weeks since Asuka's date disaster, the girl had been in a constant bad mood. It normally wouldn't have lasted so long, if not for him coming close to her snych-scores in the days following, which had enraged her to no end. He couldn't understand it, since for him EVA was about saving the world, and not about who had the biggest ego.

"I forgot to reset the temperature setting. Sorry, it was my fault," Shinji excused himself. He knew he had forgotten something this morning.

"Oh, you are sorry and everything is all right! You and Wondergirl are everybody's darling! You get away with everything!" Asuka ranted on, not letting him go so easily.

"Ah, come on, Asuka. You know that this isn't true," Misato waved it off, while taking another spoon of soup. She knew Asuka was fleeing into her anger. Being nasty to the people around her was easier than dealing with her problems.

Asuka looked sharp to Misato. "Oh no! You only want to take the easy exit, since you are the worst offender and turn a blind eye to all the stuff these two there are doing! Good for you that you and Mr. Kaji are again a item, but better don't forget your responsibilities towards us!"

"Why do you think I and Kaji are a item...?" she tried to downplay it. While they were back together, even though not _that_close yet, she didn't think it was the children's business. At least not yet.

**-brrriing- -brrriing- -beeeep- **_"Hi, Misato. There is a game of the Tokyo-3 Allstars tonight, and I have two tickets. Do you have time this evening? Call me, I would like to a nice evening with you."_** -beeeep-**

Misato felt that Ryoji had picked the worst moment to call her. And she felt backstabbed by her answering machine. Why had she put the speaker on full volume? "Uh...eh..."

"I don't have to tell you how impossible you are since obviously you know this yourself, or you wouldn't see the need to lie to us! And you are our guardian? What a joke!" That said, she stomped back into the bathroom. Having vented her anger for now.

"Pilot Soryu seems to have a especially bad mood recently," Rei said, observantly.

While she still knew that there was little point in going against Asuka's poison, it had been especially bad in the last two weeks. It grew to the point where Rei became quite irritated, which meant something. She wondered how long until she would lose control like the one time it had escalated into a catfight between her and Asuka. Her hurt feelings started to add up by now.

"That's an understatement..." Shinji commented. "I hope there won't be an Angel sighting in the next time, since I don't want to imagine how that will end, with her like this."

Misato felt that she didn't need that. She still was shocked enough about when Ryoji had told her about the true backgrounds. Kaji also hadn't known everything, he had admitted that openly. But the things he knew had been enough for her. Now was not the time for another crisis named Asuka.

_I can only hope it won't get worse... _But Misato knew, hope was the last thing to die.

* * *

_...later that day, inside NERV..._

"You look stressed out, Major. Is something wrong?" Lt. Hyuga asked Misato during the snych-test. He had noticed that Misato looked a little tense recently, as if something weighted on her.

Misato knew, sooner or later someone would have noticed. But no way she would tell what mainly caused her stress. But she didn't even need to lie, since there were several other things that also contributed to it. "It is some trouble with Asuka in the last time... And I go some changes in my private life at the moment."

"Don't tell me you forgot to use protection," Ritsuko remarked.

"Har har, very funny!" was the only answer Misato had for Ritsuko. She didn't feel like giving her more of a reply right now. Not after knowing that Ritsuko had involved herself into something that would in the end get her into deep trouble.

Ritsuko raised an eyebrow. Normally Misato should have been more vocal, yelling to her that this was none of her business. In fact, recently Misato seemed more reserved than usual. She wondered if Misato was going through a phase or if she and Kaji getting back together had something to do with it. It was one of these things that couldn't be explained with science.

Makoto decided he should better stay silent. No need to get involved into whatever tension there was between these two woman. _No thanks... There are some things a man should instinctively avoid._

"We are getting the results now," Maya called, distracting Ritsuko and Misato. "So far it looks good. The Fourth and Fifth Child again have made progress. The First Child also, but to a lesser degree. The Second Child is stable, but there are fluctuations, as if she has trouble concentrating."

"And what about Shinji's score?" Misato asked. In the last time, Shinji had come very close to Asuka, and Misato feared how Asuka would happen once the uninvetible happened.

"Well, that's the best news. He managed the top score, which is 0.10 better than the second best. He is the number one!" Maya announced. After all she had observed over the months, that didn't come as a surprise. Only that it happened so fast.

"WHAT?"

"Oh, I forgot to cut the connection to the test plugs," Maya only now realised after hearing Asuka's outburst of protest. Misato wondered what Gods she had pissed off to deserve this. Now she had no chance to cushion the news before they would reach Asuka.

_There goes my last quiet time... As if I don't have already enough on my mind..._

Asuka was in a really bad mood a little later. While she had held it in for a little while, now with her shower done and half dressed in the locker room, her anger and disbelival of what had happened errupted to the surface. "I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! He managed to defeat me! And worse that idiot didn't even have to try hard! As if it isn't bad enough that everything revolves around him! Shinji the great, Shinji the invincible!"

Hikari was really concerned for her friend. It seemed that only being in second place had collapsed a world for her. She clearly wasn't used to be only second. "Asuka. It can't be that bad. Surely you can get in front again?"

Asuka looked as if calming down a little, but then she noticed Rei completely ignoring her rant. Asuka walked up to her. "Wondergirl! Did you even listen?"

"I am capable of hearing. But I do not have anything to add," Rei answered, while she continued dressing. She didn't see why Asuka complained about Shinji having a better synch-ratio. The Second Child's ratio was still very good.

"Oh, you defend your sweetie Shinji! You two in duet make me sick! I bet to prevent knocking you up, he fucks you into the ass!" Asuka yelled, Rei's indifference to her making her angry to no end.

Suddenly Rei turned around, looking... angry. **-SLAAAP!-**Asuka stumbled back when Rei slapped the left side of her face so hard that it almost knocked her down, an angry red handprint burning on her skin. Hikari looked shocked to Rei, whose face still was very different from usual, openly shown anger dominating it.

Rei really had become irritated with Asuka in the last days. However, that alone wouldn't have caused her to do that. But Asuka making fun of her and Shinji having sexual intercourse like this, and especially reminding her of her inability to reproduce, that had made her simply too angry, because that remark had deeply hurt her.

"I do have a lot of patience, Pilot Soryu. But never again even dare to make fun about mine and Shinji's sexual habits," she told Asuka with a voice of ice. Looking to Hikari, she lost the angry face, remembering what she had been taught about manners. "Please excuse my useage of violence in your presence, Hikari, but I do not tolerate such a violation of our honor."

Hikari couldn't say anything. She watched Rei taking her jacket, closing her locker, and then leaving. She then looked to Asuka, who only now seemed to realise what had happened. _Oh Gods, the handprint won't fade away for some time. It will be a mission impossible to keep her from doing something stupid._

While Hikari knew that Asuka had stepped over the line, she couldn't help but to fear that this could now escalate to a cold or even hot war.

* * *

_...Tuesday..._

Everything was quiet in the NERV-base in Nevada. Situated entirely above the ground, they were about to finish transforming the core of the fourth Angel into a experimental S² engine for an EVA. However, someone had different plans...

_**I won't allow you to sully my sister's memory like this. Shemshel was a wonderful person, and for this, I will have a little snack...**_

And everything went to hell.

"All right, what exactly happened?" Fuyutsuki asked barely twenty minutes later. All of NERV was in a state of busy activity after reports had reached them that the base in Nevada had simply disappeared. Gendo had delegated it to him, since he himself still was busy at the UN in New York and wouldn't be back until Thursday.

"We have this from one of our espionage satellites," Lt. Aoba said, and the briefing table showed a view of the base from space. Suddenly a black circle appeared, and the base vanished in it. When the circle disappeared, there was only flat earth left. "A team sent to investigate says... the whole base is gone. The ground in a circle as big as the base had vanished down to a depth of three meters as well."

"Unbelievable... What was that?" the Vice-Commander wanted to know.

"We do not really know. But since they were doing some final work on the experimental S² engine, we speculate something went wrong. It was like a black hole and swallowed everything," Lt. Hyuga added.

"As if a huge hand had removed it from the face of Earth..." Kozo Fuyutsuki had seen many things, but this, despite it being such a silent and fast, yes unspectecular event from afar, was really frightening.

"Great Gods...hundreds of personell. All hands lost," Misato whispered.

Ritsuko wondered what exactly had happened to cause this. But then again, the S² was something they still barely understood. "This will make things much more difficult for us..."

The Vice-Commander knew, something of this magnitude couldn't be held secret. Not in the chaos they were already experiencing. There were simply too many people involved. So the only thing they could do was to limit the damage they could recieve in public. "NERV will give an official statement that there had been an unknown accident that caused the destruction of the base. I want the main base in the States to sent in investigation crew! I want answers!"

* * *

_...Wendsday..._

Toji was bored out of his mind. Their teacher was droning on with no one actually really listening to him. Looking around he saw Kensuke and Mayumi being busy with typing. A way to speak without attracting attention. Toji had to admit, these two understood each other quite well. Mayumi was still a shy girl, but she had opened up some. That was a lot after years of outsiderdom. Kensuke seemed to have found a good friend in the bespectacled girl.

Toji then looked to Mana. She was chewing on a pencil, a clear sign that she was bored to tears. Mana was in a way the most normal of them. A girl you could meet anywhere. He looked to Hikari, who seemed to try and follow the lecture, but he saw in her eyes that she also wished to be somewhere else. Asuka looked as if she was a nuke a second from exploding. Her mood had been very bad in the last weeks already, but since the latest synch-test she had developed such a short fuse, that Toji didn't dare to come even close to her. He was brave, but not stupid.

Rei looked quite attentive to the lecture. At least Toji first thought so. But seeing her left hand playing with her pen, he guessed that 'straight-A-Ayanami' had learned what boredom is. And Shinji... he looked more to Rei than to the teacher, and that said a lot about the quality of the stuff the teacher was telling them.

_Crap... Looks like this will be a loooong day, _Toji mentally groaned, seeing that the period wasn't even half over yet.

Still bored, Toji looked through the windows, seeing a spotless day. It was already quite hot outside and most people had fled into climate controlled buildings... His thoughts were interrupted, when suddenly out of nothing something appeared at the other edge of the city!

He jumped up when seeing that. "Shit! What's that thing?" he gasped, pointing to the window.

Surprised by this reaction, everyone looked through the windows, and stopped when they saw it. It was a huge, bizzarely black and white zerba-striped sphere hovering over the outer districts at the other end of the city. And there was little doubt what this thing could be...

_**Ahhhh, I see I came too early. Stupid me... Well, there is some much time in the world...**_

The pilots didn't waste any time and left at once, this clearly was an emergency, while the teacher called the school administration to send everyone to the shelter. The alarm sirens hadn't been fired up yet. That happened some seconds later, when the MAGI came at least to the conclusion that this thing was a threat. The inner city was sent into fortress mode, with all the buildings being retracted into the geofront.

The Angel Leliel watched this display with a little amusement. _**How cute... -Yawn- I think it is time for me to get things into motion.**_With that, the sphere very slowly started to drift towards the mostly retracted city center.

**-EHHHT- -EHHHT- -EHHHT-**

Inside NERV, the sudden appearance of this new threat made everyone sweat.

Misato had been in her office when the alert had went off. Storming onto the bridge level, she saw the bizarre sphere on the screen. "What the...? Why weren't we warned of this thing approaching?"

"There was no time! It simply appeared out of thin air!" Lt. Aoba reported while being busy to try and get order into the communication chaos that had errupted with the appearance of that thing.

"The wave pattern is...orange. An there is no detectable AT-field. Actually, apart from the pattern we don't find anything at all," Lt. Hyuga reported, confused over what the scanners reported to him. "It is as if that thing isn't even there."

"Orange?" Ritsuko was surprised by this strange pattern analysis. "What is that thing supposed to be? An half-Angel? Maya?"

Lt. Ibuki only shook her head. "The MAGI also can't understand it, Sempai. They don't have enough data to even speculate."

"We have to adapt." Everyone only now noticed that the Vice-Commander had entered the bridge level. "The pilots have to start as soon as possible, Major Katsuragi. But delay any offensive action until we have an better idea of the enemy. Lt. Aoba, connect me to Major Hanson. We need Trident's support in this."

Barely five minutes later the five EVA's armed with handguns, hid behind the remaining buildings that couldn't be retracted, while Trident watched everything from a distance. Major Hanson had said that he didn't want another repair bill.

Right now, Mana gave a report over her findings. "Nothing! I bombarded that thing with my entire sensor array, and apart from the wave pattern, I only get a blank screen. It's as if that thing is made of thin air... And if you excuse me to say so, the whole thing smells of a trap."

Misato had to agree, the tactic of this Angel was highly unusual. "Good, stay put and continue watching it... All right, kids. That means we essentially know nothing. So don't do anything stupid and observe how the Angel reacts. Watch each other's back, we don't want you doing any heroics."

The sphere continued to slowly hover through the city until reaching the middle, where it stopped. _**Well, I have time... **_Leliel thought, before simply doing nothing. She was way too lazy to act agressive, so she waited for them to make the critical wrong move.

Ten minutes later the pilots wondered what the Angel was waiting for. Asuka finally had enough of this. She had been constantly humiliated, and her anger over this had reached the breaking point. She was the best! And she would prove it to all of them by slaying this Angel! So she threw away caution, jumped out of her cover and fired at the sphere.

"Take that!" she screamed. But all of a sudden, the sphere disappeared, her round going through nothing.

"Pattern Blue!" Makoto shouted, when the alert went off. "It is directly beneath Unit-02!"

_**Nice try... All right, now it's time for the picnic! **_

"What the?" Asuka suddenly saw a pitch black, circular shadow appear at her feet, and all of a sudden Unit-02 started to sink into it! "A shadow? Scheiße, I'm sinking into whatever this is!" She tried to get out of it, but it was useless. "I can't get out! Damn it!...I..." Asuka stopped when she saw that the sphere had re-appeared, almost as if mocking her.

"Get the entry plug out!" Misato commanded. At the rate Unit-02 was sinking, she guessed it would be a total loss, but she didn't want Asuka to die.

"We can't. The signal is blocked... Gods, look at that!"

Everyone saw it. The circular shadow had expanded to a huge diameter, and all the buildings in it started to sink as well, as if sucked up by a black hole, while the sphere hovered over the whole disaster. The other pilots tried to shoot that thing, but it vanished each time, and re-appeared as if nothing had happened at all.

"Damn! No... Arrrghll..." Then the connection to Unit-02 broke down, her cable suddenly snapping.

"ASUKA!" Misato felt really helpless, as they watched the shadow eating up the remaining buildings.

* * *

_...four hours later..._

_**Ahhh... that was a nice meal... **_Leliel thought, while watching the Lilim doing whatever they planned to do. It didn't matter anyway. She had eaten well and right now was busy with digisting all of it. Except this perverted thing, but that was only a matter of time.

All of her brothers and sisters thought of her as fat, lazy, obsessed with eating and generally useless. And they also thought of her as weired. _**What do they know? I'm simply easygoing. And father can wait a little longer. **_Leliel would eat this entire city and all of these perversions, before she would eat her way though the ground to free her father.

It took some energy to let her three-dimensional body appear and yet stay between the dimensions to make it invulnerable, but it was worth mocking the Lilim. She wondered if they even would get out that she had two bodies at the same time. _**-Yawn- Well, let's wait how things will proceed. In the meantime I can have my fun with the little Lilum inside me...**_

In the quick errected command centre at the edge of the city, NERV was co-ordinating their effords to finally get out more about this mysterious Angel and held contact to the army. The four remaining EVA's were parked at the side of the makeshift base and Trident had landed beside them.

"If Asuka doesn't do anything rash, she has energy for 16 more hours in her batteries. Of course provided she's still alive at all. Hopefully by then we've found out how to go against this thing," Ritsuko remarked, while looking to the Angel. The sphere hovered above the shadow, which had created a empty zone within the city. Thankfully the damage was limited due to most buildings being retracted.

"The army has surrounded the shadow," Lt. Aoba reported after getting the latest news.

"The shadow has grown to a diameter of 600 meters, but now it is stable and doesn't move a millimeter," Lt. Hyuga reported. "If you allow me the question, Major, what is all this military supposed to do?"

"They're here to help us. But frankly I have no idea what they could do against something like that..." Misato answered. Since they now knew that it almost certainly was this Angel who had destroyed the Nevada base, they had gone on the highest alert level.

She felt horrible that they had been unable to do anything. She had to watch Asuka being literally eaten by this mysterious shadow. Despite what everyone thought about Asuka, her possible death had hit them all very hard. A harsh reminder that this was a real war. Looking to the pilots who watched the Angel from the railing, she saw that their mood was down. They might have had their difficulties with Asuka, but no way they had wanted to see her die.

And the pilots were shocked. Silently looking at the bizarre Angel, they still had to accept that they had been unable to do anything against this thing. Looking to them, she heared them talking.

"What a way to go..." Toji said, breaking the silence. "I wish that to no one, not even her." He might have had strongly disliked Asuka, although that was mutual, but he would have never wished for something like that to befall her.

"Why did she do it? What made her attack the Angel?" Shinji wondered. He knew Asuka was a hothead, but he hadn't thought she would do something stupid. Not after the thing with the split-Angel.

Hikari sighed. Her worst fears had come true. "Asuka was horribly humiliated that she wasn't any longer at the first place. Piloting is everything for her, her whole self-esteem hangs on it as I had gathered. I think she wanted to prove that she still is the best... And now she is gone."

"We do not know yet if Pilot Soryu has died," Rei reminded her. "It is in the realm of the possible that she is still alive."

They again looked to the Angel. "Frankly, I wonder if I actually should pity her if she is still being alive inside that thing. It must be horrible," Toji thought aloud. He didn't want to think how it is inside an Angel.

Mana wished this was only a bad dream. To watch Unit-02 simply sink into the shadow as if it was a huge sand pit had been really horrifying. And that Asuka was now almost certainly dead was much worse. Sure, she and Asuka hadn't really that much to do with each other, but since she cared for everyone she still was hit by the impact. "Gods, I feel miserable."

Misato had heared enough. The children's morale had been dealt a serious blow. Gods, Rei's remark made her grasp for straws, but she hoped, prayed that Asuka could be somehow recovered alive from wherever she was right now.

* * *

_...inside Unit-02..._

It was silent inside the entry plug.

Asuka felt like she was slowly going mad. Being forced to do nothing at all was slowly driving her nuts. And she felt helpless, which pissed her off even more, but there was nothing she could vent her frustration on. A horrible headarche threatened to split her head. She had no idea if it came from her stress or her anger.

Activating the viewscreen, she saw the picture again. Her EVA was in the middle of a white nothing, with all kinds of stuff floating around as well. Buildings, structures, vehicles...and bodies. It was disgusting, most of it looked more than half digested, melting into clouds of vapor then finally blended in with the white. It gave her a good idea where she was: in a giant stomach with no way to get out. She knew, only the weak AT-field that existed as long as the EVA had power, protected her from being digested as well.

Shutting it off, she cursed, fleeing into her anger. "Perfekt. Ich sitze mitten im Nichts fest! Und nur noch sechs Stunden Lebenserhaltung übrig..." _(Perfect. I'm stranded in the middle of nothing! And only six hours life support left...)_

Gods, she needed something to do, but there wasn't anything to do! "VERDAMMT, ZEIG DICH ENDLICH!" _(DAMN, FINALLY SHOW YOURSELF!) _she screamed, cursing the Angel. She didn't want to give up!

But her headarche went only worse as if something wanted her head to explode.

* * *

_...Tokyo-3..._

It was dark night by now, but the sensor array finally had given them answers, since the shadow had stayed where it was. Ritsuko stood beside a board filled with diagrams and calculations they didn't understood at all. But thankfully she knew that most of them had no scientific background and tried to keep it simple.

"We actually had targeted the wrong thing the entire time. While the sphere is a part of the Angel, it's main body actually is the shadow. It is 600 meters in diameter, but only three nanometers thick and kept together by a inverted AT-field. It's main body is like a gateway. Anything sucked up by it, will be pulled into a space that's alien to our universe," Ritsuko explained.

"Yes, but what about the sphere?" Hikari asked. "You said it's also part of the Angel."

"It is. It is a three-dimensional projection of the Angel, and also it's body. It exists twice at the same time. But the sphere is not entirely in our dimension, and thus like a ghost. We suspect that everything swallowed, ends up in there, unreachable."

"How can we actually go against something like that?" Shinji wanted to know. It seemed as if this Angel had made itself invincible after all these descriptions.

"It still has a core, but we can't attack it as it is part of the shadow body," Ritsuko explained, showing a picture of a flat, red disk in the middle of the shadow.

"So it simply sits there, mocking us..." Misato concluded. "Is there any way to get Asuka out of there and send this thing to hell?"

Ritsuko knew, this was the part she would regret telling them. "We went through everything, let the MAGI go into overdrive, looked for even the most unusual ways. We looked for a way to pull both off... In the end there was only one plan left, and if we do that, EVA-02 will be destroyed as well."

Mana didn't like that at all. "You mean you will destroy her together with the Angel?"

"Gods, that's cold," Misato said, feeling even worse now.

"Don't you think I didn't know that?" Closing her eyes Ritsuko knew that sometimes sacrifices had to be made. But she wasn't as cold as she sometimes appeared to be. And even though she knew they had to do it, it did disturb her a little. "The plan would be to position the four EVAs around the shadow and surround it with their AT-fields, before dropping and igniting all remaining 992 N²-bombs in the middle of the shadow. It was calculated that this should destroy it... It could be excuted in three hours, but we will wait a little further."

"Why the wait?" Rei asked. The wait made no sense to her.

"Even though we have no way to get Unit-02 out of there, we can still hope that Asuka will find a way to get out before her life support will fail. After it failed, there will be nothing left to us but to execute the operation," Ritsuko told her. "I think then it would be even a mercy, instead of slowly suffocating of bad LCL in total darkness."

No one said anything. Misato wanted to shout to Ritsuko that this was madness, but she didn't manage to get anything out.

* * *

_...inside..._

Asuka's head hurt. It hurt so much that she was almost unable to get one clear thought. Her anger had faded away by then, leaving her to mental exhaustion. She was strangely calm, as if the prospect of death wasn't that horrible at all. She felt as if the plug around herself slowly faded away, until there was only darkness while her headarche had finally vanished.

_Ist das der Tod? Wie enttäuschend, _(Is this death? How disappointing,)she thought, he usual demanor returning, now that she thought she had it behind herself.

"Oh nein, das ist es nicht. Zumindest noch nicht."_ (Oh no, it isn't. At least not yet.)_

Hearing the voice of a man, she turned around, only to see a black-haired man wearing a dark grey amani suit, who was busy with smoking a cigarette. Asuka snarled. "Wer zum Teufel sind sie?" _(Who to the devil are you?)_

"Du hast meinen Namen schon gesagt..." _(You already said my name.) _The smirk that followed made Asuka shut up before she could say anything. "Du bist das beste, miese kleine Dreckstück das ich seit langem bekommen werde. Daher dachte ich mir ich komme persönlich um dich zu vorzubereiten." _(You are the worst, little bitch I will get in a long time. So I thought I would came personally to prepare you.)_

"Vorbereiten?"_(Prepare?)_ It wasn't every day that you met the sovereign of hell itself, so Asuka had no idea what to say. That was one of the instances where her front failed totally.

"Oh ja. Schließlich will ich ja, daß dir zuvor all deine Widerlichkeiten vor Augen geführt werden, bevor du zu uns kommst. Nichts ist besser als unseren Kunden zu zeigen, warum sie zu uns geschickt werden," _(Oh yes. After all I want that you will be shown all of your nastiness before you join our ranks. Nothing better than showing our customers why they are sent to us,)_ the Devil said.

"Muß ein Irrtum sein. Ich habe immer anderen das gegeben, was sie verdient haben," _(Must be an error. I only gave others what they deserved,)_ Asuka said, hoping that she appeared brave enough.

It seemed he wasn't fooled in the slightest by her. "Du weißt daß das völliger Quatsch ist. Oh, klein-Asuka hat ein Wehwehchen weil Mami sie verließ and Papi versuchte wieder glücklich zu werden... Und darum darfst du ein Arschloch sein, wie?" _(You know that's total rubbish. Oh, little-Asuka has a booboo because mommy left her and pappy tried to become happy again. And therefore you are allowed to be an asshole, eh?)_

"Verdammt, halt's Maul!" _(Damn, shut up!) _Asuka shouted. She didn't care that this was Satan, she didn't want to hear it.

He was obviously amused by it, as her reaction only seemed to make her even more interesting. "Ha ha ha! Oh, klein-Asuka will es nicht hören! Aber es ist so: du bist widerlich, arrogant and lächerlich zugleich. Ich werde es genießen, dir gnadenlos den Spiegel vorzuhalten." _(Ha ha ha! Oh, little-Asuka doesn't want to hear it. But it is this way: you are obnoxious, arrogant and yet ridiculous at the same time. I will enjoy holding the mirror to you.)_

"Du lügst!" _(You lie!)_ Asuka shouted.

"Oh, und außerdem bist du derartig leer... Dein Lebensinhalt ist einen Riesenroboter zu steuern. Wie armselig. Wie kommt es daß diejenigen mit dem armseligsten Lebensinhalt immer die größten Schweine werden?" _(Oh, and you are so empty... Your life consists mainly of piloting. How ridiculous. How comes that the ones with the most ridiculous lives become the biggest pigs?)_ the Devil wondered, clearly amused.

"Raaargh!" Screaming in anger, Asuka tried to attack him, but only slammed into an invisible wall.

The Devil laughed. "Hahaha! Wie süß! Aber das bringt dir Nichts. Und komm mir nicht mit der großen Soryu, denn in Realität bist du erbärmlich und verblendet. Du bist das gößte Ekel der Stadt." _(Hahaha! How cute! But this won't help you. And don't come me with the great Soryu, because in reality you are ridiculous and full of yourself. You are the biggest nasty of the city.)_

"Lügen! Lügen! Ich glaube dir nichts!" _(Lies! Lies! I won't believe you anything!) _Asuka shouted. Her self-delusion and immense pride showed cracks, and it frightened her to no end. She didn't want to remember what had made her that way.

The Devil looked in humor to her. "Warum sollte ich lügen? Und was wäre besser als dir direkt zu zeigen, was andere über dich denken, und wie sie unter dir leiden?" _(Why should I lie? And what would be better than showing you directly how others think of you and how they suffered under you?)_

"Was...?"_(What...?) _Asuka couldn't ask him, when the surroundings started to shift, and she felt as if being stuffed into someone else.

It was then, when the nightmare actually begun for her.

* * *

_...Tokyo-3..._

"Now it is only a matter of time. In less than half a hour, her life support system will fail. If she hadn't made it out until then, we have lost her. And the airforce will drop the N² bombs into the Angel to destroy it," Misato said to the gathered pilots with the early dawn in her back.

The body language was clear, they knew that since Asuka hadn't made it out until now, she would never get out. In the end she would be destroyed together with the Angel. Misato felt that this would be the worst day up to now in her career. She would lose one of the children.

After that, nothing would be the same again.

Leliel meanwhile was wondering what kind of effect her attempt to have fun with "her" Lilum actually had. Normally by now she should have went totally mad, but something had interfered, and she had fallen asleep.

_**And I have no way to see what actually the result is. Well...no matter. I will eat her anyway...**_

* * *

_...inside..._

It had felt like days... Horrible days.

The Devil had made good on his promise to hold the mirror to her. It could only be described as being a guest in someone's body while she was nasty, mean, arrogant or something else bad, to this person. She was forced to see from the outside how she acted. But the worst was, she felt everything that person did, heared the thoughts and emotions. And she couldn't hear away. What she heared had been very sobering.

She had felt the emotional hurt caused by her own nastiness, the anger, the pity. She heared how some outright hated her, others felt she was a spoiled brat and not worth their time anymore. Hurt feelings after being treated so badly and very low opinions of her. And a common theme was, that everyone thought her fixture on piloting was one-dimensional and a weak main occupation.

Being forced to feel first hand how many others felt of her, thought of her and saw her, that was hell.

And the worst was that it became worse. They had started at the beginning of her piloting, and each year was worse than the last. Her time in Tokyo-3 was the worst. She was forced to feel Toji's hostility, Hikari's pity and concern, Shinji's open annoyance and Kensuke thinking of her as a bitch... But the worst was Rei.

The sheer hurt had almost overwhelmed her. Behind the calm face, Rei had been greatly hurt by all the venom and poison she had thrown against her. Espically towards the end, Rei had felt so hurt that she had seeked Shinji's closeness to calm down. Rei wasn't a girl to show her emotions, but the soul pain Asuka had caused her had been immense.

Asuka barely was able to stand after this torture was finally over. Being forced to live through all her nastiness had stripped away all her defenses. "...Ich bin... so... schrecklich...gemein..."_(...I'm... so... really... mean...) _she said in a shaky voice. "W-warum?" _(W-why?)_

"Sagen wir, ich liebe es Leute auf den Rechten Weg zu bringen, wenn es schon zu spät ist. Das macht sie wahnsinnig, zu sehen das nun die Zeit sich zu ändern abgelaufen ist," _(Let's say I like to show people the right path when it's too late already. Makes them mad, to see the time to change themselves is over,) _he answered, really proud with himself.

Asuka looked with tired eyes to Satan. "Du sagst das jetzt... Ich...hätte doch noch genug Zeit...gehabt mich zu ändern... wenn nicht dies passiert wäre." _(You say that now..I... would have had enough time...to better myself... if not this had happened.) _

"Ah, noch immer zu Stur um die letzte Einsicht zu haben... Laß uns mal die Zukunft ansehen, wie sie wäre, wenn dies hier nicht passiert wäre." _(Still defiance against accepting the full truth... Let's see how the future would have been without this.)_

Asuka felt the surroundings shift, until she was in a comfortable apartment. To her surprise she saw a man and a woman in their very early twenties, and recognised them as Shinji and Rei. Rei's belly showed a huge buldge, a clear sign of pregnancy in it's end phase, and both looked happy while holding their hands on it to feel the child inside.

"Oh, wie süß. Shinji und Rei haben geheiratet und erwarten ihr erstes Kind. Und Shinji besitzt einen sehr gut gehenden Laden in Tokyo-2," _(Oh, how cute. Shinji and Rei have married and expect their first child. And Shinji is a well-off shop-owner in Tokyo-2,)_ he commented.

The scene shifted again, showing a basketball game. Asuka saw an adult Hikari cheering on Toji, who was about to score even more points. "Die Beiden planen zu heiraten. Toji ist nun ein gefragter Sportler und gut bezahlt. Und Hikari hilft ihm mit Finanzen und Papierkram." _(These two plan to marry. Toji now is a famous and well-paid basketball player. And Hikari helps him with the finances and paper work.)_

Another shift. An adult Mana was walking down the stairs of new Tokyo University. She looked quite happy and joined her friends to exchanged the newest gossip. "Mana studiert nun um Lehrerin zu werden. Sie hat festgestellt daß sie gut mit Kindern umgehen kann." _(Mana now studies to become a teacher. She has realised she is quite good with children.)_

Shift. They saw the inside of a big software company, with the programmers being busy at their work. Asuka had to look twice to recognise Kensuke being busy at one of the computers. And on his desk... there was a picture of an adult Mayumi Yamagishi! "Kensuke hat seine Berufung im Programmieren gefunden und arbeitet nun im Computergewerbe. Er und seine Freundin haben es mit heiraten nicht sehr eilig." _(Kensuke found his liking for programming and works in the computer industry. He and his girlfriend don't plan to marry too soon.)_

"W-was ist mit mir?" _(W-what about me?)_ Asuka asked. There had been no sign of her yet, which disturbed her greatly. But the Devil said nothing, and...

"Was für eine Verschwendung..." _(What a waste...)_

Looking around, Asuka saw to her horror that she was on a dark graveyard and two men were busy with letting a coffin down into an freshly digged grave. She listened to them.

"Warum isn' keiner hier?" _(Why is no one here?)_

"Hatte keine Freunde, die Familie hat sich entfremdet. Hab' gehört sie war ein schrecklicher Charakter. Lebte für ihren Job und als sie nicht mehr gebraucht wurde, wollte keiner sie haben." _(Had no friends, family was chased away by her. Heared she was a horrible person. Lived for her job, and when she wasn't needed any longer, no one wanted to hire her.)_

"Versteh' ich. Wer will schon jemanden mit einem Persönlichkeitsproblem. Wie isse eigentlich draufgegangen?" _(I understand that. Who would want someone with such issues? Well, how did she die?)_

"Konnte es nicht mehr ertragen alleine und nutzlos zu sein. Hat sich vollaufen lassen und ist auf dem Dach herumgehopst... 20 Jahre alt... Das ist doch kein Alter um zu sterben..." _(Couldn't bear it any longer to be alone and useless. Drank herself silly and danced on the roof... 20 years... That's no age for dying...)_

"Da können wir auch nix mehr ändern... Komm, wir trinken einen bevor wirs zuschaufeln. Beschweren wird sie sich wohl kaum." _(We can't change that now. Come, let's get a drink before we close that. Don't think she will complain.)_

"Niemnd verdient es, so zu sterben... Warum sehe ich mir das an?... Wessen Grab ist das?" _(No one deserves to die like this... Why am I seeing that?... Whose grave is this?)_ Asuka wondered, although she had a sinking suspiction whose grave that was.

"Ganz einfach..." _(Very easy...)_ The Devil turned on his his lighter to smoke another cigarette. The illuminated tombstone read **"ASUKA LANGELY SORYU"**. "Es ist DEIN Grab. Selbst wenn dies nicht passiert wäre, hast du keine Zukunft..." _(It is YOUR grave. Even if this hadn't happened, you have no future...)_

"Nein..."_ (No...) _Asuka went totally pale, horrified. "Ich...nein... Ich will nicht, daß es so endet!" _(I... no... I don't want it to end like this!)_

"Zu spät! Viel zu spät!" _(Too late! Far too late!)_ the Devil laughed, before pushing her.

Asuka fell into the hole of the grave, barely managing to hold on the edge. To her horror the coffin opened, smoke and flames errupting from it, showing her where the way would end. "Nein!...Bitte nicht!"_(No!... Please not!)_ She slowly slipped off the edge. "Ich werde mich bessern! Ich verspreche es!" _(I will change! I promise!)_

The earth crumbled away and she fell into the fire, Demons starting to surround her while she fell deeper into this inferno. "GEBT MIR EINE ZWEITE CHANCE! BITTE! ICH WILL NICHT MEHR GEMEIN SEIN!"_(GIVE ME A SECOND CHANCE! PLEASE! I DON'T WANT TO BE MEAN ANY LONGER!)_

The Demons attacked her, feasting on her. "AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

"NEIN!" Jerking up, Asuka realised that she was back in her entry plug. Had the whole thing been only a dream? But even if it was, it had been quite effective at brutally ripping away all the layers she had hid herself over time. It had made her regret a number of things.

Asuka then saw it. The power supply was in its last seconds. And then...the plug became dark, its power spent. "Das ist das Ende..."_(That's the end...)_Asuka felt weak and helpless. And she was so horribly alone. She wanted to cry but felt ashamed to do so. Closing her eyes she waited for the end.

"Ich will nicht...allein sein..." _(I don't want to be... alone...)_ she whispered, the lack of oxygen starting to make her sleepy. "Irgendjemand... bitte..." _(Someone... please...) _She slowly felt awareness slipping away, when all of a sudden, bright white light filled the entry plug. "W-wer...?"

"Scchhhhht... du bist niemals allein. Es ist keine Schande, zu weinen..."_(Shhhhh... you are never alone. It is no shame, to cry...)_ a friendly, warm voice whispered to her. The bright light surrounded her, and for the first time since that fateful day, she felt... loved.

Asuka was put into a protective cocoon of light. "Ich werde immer bei dir sein..." _(I will always be with you...)_

Unit-02, which had always been the most peaceful of all the three initial Evangelions, decided at this moment to do something it had never done before in its entire existance. Its four eyes glowed diabolically when it felt something enabling it to finally let its nature go free.

The beast had awakened.

* * *

_...Tokyo-3..._

"30 seconds until bomb drop," was announced, while the bomber fleet started to get into position for the operation to drop all N² into the Angel. Everyone knew that this would be the destruction of Unit-02 as well, even though at this minute the calculated energy supply had run out anyway. So Asuka was left to die one way or another.

The mood was now at its lowest, and the pilots really had to pull themselves together so that their EVAs would not shut down from lacking concentration.

_**Ha...**_Leliel giggled. Of course she was aware of everything the Lilim did. _**This will give me bad digestion at best... **_She toyed with the idea of disappearing at the last moment, thus letting the Lilim destroy their own city, but her laziness won in the end. Simply sitting there and getting a slightly upset stomach would do the job as well.

Her trying to force her way into that Lilum's mind inside her had caused...interesting effects. Some kind of interference had in the end created quite a strange show. But not that this mattered now any longer, the field was gone. _**In the end, they all lose...**_

_**And now I will have a nice snack of that perversion I've swall-l-l-aaaaaaAAAHHHHRRRGH! **_A spike of flaming pain shot through her. Pain she had never felt before, and it came from within her! She spamsed when it got worse by the second. _**Argh...gh...gh...Have I e-eaten something expired? **_she groaned.

All the EVAs were making several steps back, when the shadow body of the Angel started to quake, rising and falling like a stormy sea, blood starting to shoot out at several places. "What is it doing now?" Toji shouted, fearing that they would be now next.

"What the hell is that?" Misato wanted to know in baffed surprise. Everyone was taken aback by this strange reaction of the Angel that came all of a sudden.

"No idea!" Lt. Hyuga reported, his gauges going haywire. "An enourmous energy spike of unknown origin."

"Could this be Asuka's doing?" Misato asked Ritsuko.

"Impossible, Unit-02 has deplented all its reserves..." But Ritsuko felt that there was really something amiss.

_**AGGRRHHH... UUURRGGHH... What...whath-happens to m-me... Wooouurrghhh!... **_Leliel felt like throwing up, as if her innards were being shreddered. She felt her three-dimensional body return fully into this dimension. Shaking, spamsing, it turned entirely black while she went through unbelievable pain.

**-SPPAAANNSHH-**

_**AIIIIIIEEEE!**_Leliel screamed when a metal first ripped through the side of her sphere, blood shooting out of the wound.

Everyone looked shocked when the hole was ripped from within into the sphere, followed by a fountain of blood and guts. It was a lot of blood, a neverending stream, starting to flow down on the shadow-body of the Angel. And then...

**"RRRRRAAAAHHHHHHHHHRRRGGGGHH!"**Two huge hands ripped the wound open much wider, and in the midst of the blood-fall was it, Unit-02, its four eyes glowing an angry white while roaring like a demon from the deepest hells. Now it would feast on its enemy.

Lt. Ibuki felt getting sick by looking at this bloody carnage, while Ritsuko stood there in shock. "What have we done...? What is that for a beast from which we created this EVA?"

Misato was also horrified, but realised something else. _Great gods...what do they want to do with these monsters, once the Angels are defeated? What do SEELE and the Commander plan?_

_**Naahhhrggh... No!.. **_Leliel felt that her three-dimensional body was ripped apart. She was dying, with her other body not faring better._**Nooooooooooooaaarrghhhbbllghllbl...l..l..**_Her scream went under when suddenly her sphere exploded like a huge water balloon, causing blood and guts to fly everywhere.

**-Splllllannnshhhh-**

**"GGGRRAHHHRRGH!"**Wanting to smash its enemy, Unit-02 dropped on the almost shattered shadow, and smashed into the now vulnerable core, destroying it. In a world of pain, Leliel found her final end.

Maya finally had enough and she threw up into a wastepaper basket when seeing this horrific carnage. Everyone else looked in shock at the blood- and guts covered Unit-02, as it stood triumphant over its shattered enemy in a ground zero of blood and guts, growling some more times, before going silent. It had fulfilled its duty for now and stilled its bloodlust.

Misato wasted no time to order one of the pilots to get the entry plug out of Unit-02. Running outside, she didn't care for the bloody mess that covered a good part of the city. She only saw Unit-01 carrying the entry plug towards her position, where the command centre was. She didn't wait for Shinji to join her. As soon as he had set the plug down, she yanked open the emergency hatch.

"Asuka?" she called into the dark plug. _Please...Don't let us be too late! _Her eyes adjusting to the different lighting, she saw Asuka sitting in the pilot seat. Climbing into the plug and pulling her out, Misato thought she heared something from her.

_Is that...? _Now in the daylight, she saw it. Asuka was crying. The girl who never cried... was crying. "Asuka?"

Misato wasn't prepared for Asuka weakly holding on her, her crying only getting stronger. And Misato heared a weak "...verspreche... nicht mehr gemein..." Misato felt that whatever had happened to Asuka inside the Angel, it must have shook her to the core.

Shinji watched from some distance the crying Asuka holding on Misato. Despite what he thought about Asuka, he now felt sorry for her. Something must have shattered the wall she had errected around herself, and in a way she now was totally emotionally naked with no protection.

Even if she had been so mean before, it wouldn't be right to exploit her current weakness. It simply would be wrong to do that.

* * *

_...some time later, Unit-02 holding cage..._

"Unit-02 running amok came totally unpredicted. It had always been the most stable of the three first batch units. We thought the nature of how this unit was activated and its advanced construction made it immune to such rages. To be honest... this slaughter.. it was frightening. I can no longer predict how Unit-02 will react in the future," Dr. Akagi told the Commander, while they watched Unit-02 getting cleaned of the blood and Angel innards by high-pressure water bursts.

Gendo had to admit, he too hadn't forseen this. He had expected Unit-01 to go into a rage, but not Unit-02. "Indeed. It had been totally stable for ten years. Make sure to install extra restraints in the cage."

"There is something else. Major Katsuragi seems to suspect something after today. We should better be more careful to hide the facts from her." Ritsuko hated to do that, but she knew Misato wouldn't stand for what Gendo was planning. She herself also had no idea if it was the right thing, but followed the direction anyway.

"This won't be a problem, the important information is inaccessable to her," Gendo brushed it off.

Ritsuko felt that Gendo was too hasty in saying that, but didn't comment on it. "I hope neither Shinji or Asuka ever learn the truth about their EVAs..."

Gendo knew what Ritsuko played at. "There is no way for them to find out."

"I hope so, too." But Ritsuko couldn't shake off the feeling that it now only was a matter of time before exactly that happened. "Because I don't want to imagine their reaction..."

_**to be continued...**_

_**Next Episode:**_

_**"Dark Past"**_


	23. Dark Past

I will say these things in advance: I have absolutely no rights at NGE, but you should have already known that.

The story itself is basically a re-telling of the original storyline, but twisted into my way. While at the beginning there seem to be only few divigances, it will become more with each episode. The people, their motivations and the backgrounds are while holding true to the basic layout, changed at my imagination in many details, so canon-purists now are allowed to flame me.

NOTE: I hate both, the ending of the TV series, and how End of Evangelion turned out. So don't expect any of those outcomes.

This is Shinji/Rei. SORRY very the VERY long delay, but first there were the Christmas days, then my computer decided to die and I had to totally ruild it, and then the chapter was very hand to write, as it deals much with Asuka and how she feels. I really hope I won't have anymore delays for future chapters.

Note, that the last scene in this chapter is **CUT**. Because of the age policy here, I can't show it in its fully glory. If you really want to read what Rei is doing (although it should be obvious from the context), the follow the link in my bio.

For all the work I put into this, I would like to get reviews. I will always try to respond to every review I get.

* * *

**Chapter 22: Dark Past**

"You denied us an interrogation of the Pilot of Unit-02 about the amok-run of the Evangelion, despite her being the single person involved into this incident. Explain yourself, Major Katsuragi."

"The pilot of Unit-02 can't give any useful information. I already have questioned her, and she had no memory of these events, since she had become tired and fallen asleep because of a lower oxygen level, before it had happened," Misato explained.

She was nervous. To be questioned by the commitee was bad enough. These voices in a totally dark room, with her standing in the only cone of light, made her neck hairs stand up. Especially since she knew who the people behind the commitee were. And after what Kaji told her about SEELE, she knew that a bad lie could be her end. Thankfully Asuka herself had said that she didn't remember anything about the EVA running amok, although Asuka seemed very strange right now, first her crying, and now she was so quiet, as if deep in thoughts. What Asuka had told her, and only her, was, well, strange... Misato's thoughts were interrupted right then.

"What is the analysis of the on-board recorder?"

"The amok run of Unit-02 happened when all power already had been depleted, therefore it wasn't recorded. The analysis from its time inside the Angel shows nothing out of what was predicted, although it confirmed that it was this Angel, that destroyed the Nevada base, judging by the debris found inside," Misato reported, although she would rather take her leave right now.

"What about the mental attack the Angel did on the pilot?"

Misato knew that she couldn't tell them the truth. "She hadn't real memories of these, only that it had really scared her. Even if she would be here to be questioned, I doubt she would tell if there had been anything else." She hoped they would buy it.

"That remains to be seen. We will question her about that once she is out of hospital."

Misato knew that she would have to tell Asuka of this. No way she would let the girl walk into this unprepared. "Yes, Sir, as you wish."

"Good. You are dismissed, Major Katsuragi."

Sending a silent thanks to whoever had mercy with her, she left as fast as possible. _Brrr... the Illuminati are nothing against these guys... _she shuddered inwards while walking out of the door.

"Well, Ikari, what do you think of all this?" Keel asked Gendo, who had listened to all this from the darkness until now, as soon as the door had closed behind Misato.

"The Angel obviously tried to break down the EVA as it did with the other things it absorbed into itself. This amok run of Unit-02 came unexpected, as it always was the most stable Unit. The biggest possibility is that the Evangelion acted because of the pilot's impending demise," Gendo said, bringing his conclusions to the point.

"Such a possibility was ruled out, especially since mind and body had been seperated. That this happened nonetheless creates a general doubt on the reliability of the first three Evangelion Units."

"Yes, because we know of Unit-00's history, especially the latest attacks..."

"Also do not think of us as fools, since we know exactly your personal stake in this affair. Do not get your hopes up after this event. What the creation of Lilith once has in its claws, it will never release," Keel lectured Gendo. "And these incidents are starting to threaten the scenario, so better put more efford on your side into it, or we will decide on other...measures."

Gendo had no trouble to hear the threat that came with it. "I understand."

"Good, then this meeting is closed!" The darkness of the room disappeared, leaving Gendo alone at his desk.

_Old fools, you think your threat will mean something to me? Sure, I will be more careful, but nothing will stop me. You on the other hand become more nervous with each day. Perfect. _Gendo knew where to walk the line. But he also knew not to be careless. The loss of Adam had nearly broken his neck, so he knew that he couldn't risk anymore big screwups.

But actually the amok run of Unit-02 had, despite what SEELE told him, strengthened his hopes to regain Yui in the end. If even that mind, which had been seperated from its body, was able to do this, then Yui was indeed still intact inside Unit-01.

Even for a man like him, who tried to shed all emotion after being hurt too much, a growing spark of hope was something irrestistable, something he actually longed for despite denying this fact. Without the hope to get her back, as remote as it was, he possibly would have commited suicide years ago.

_I always see you in my dreams, waiting for me to free you. Soon... Soon nothing will ever seperate us again. Not SEELE, not the Angels and not EVA..._

* * *

_...NERV hospital..._

"Well, what are you four doing here?" Misato asked the other pilots, when entering the hospital corridor where Asuka's room was at. She was surprised to find these four waiting in the corridor.

To her surprise, it was Toji who answered. "We wait for Dr. Akagi to finish, so that we can visit Asuka. I might dislike her, but after the number that was done on her, we agreed to go together and wish her to get better soon." The look that Hikari was giving Toji added to this message that Toji had needed a little encouragement to agree to this.

"Mana couldn't come. They locked down the base and she had to stay inside. No wonder after this huge mess..." Shinji added. The whole city was still covered in Angel remains and everyone hoped for rain to wash them away.

"Shinji said that it would be tactless to leave Pilot Soryu alone in her current situation. I do agree with him," Rei said. While an outsider might have thought this to be worded devoid of emotion, the ones knowing Rei knew that she simply had sometimes an unusual way of speaking, but wasn't emotionless.

"I'm sure she will appreciate it. But I must warn you that something must have really scared her inside that Angel. So please don't say anything that could open that wound," Misato cautioned them. After holding a crying Asuka, Misato had a feeling that Asuka's feelings was right now very vulnerable. That meant a lot for a girl who hadn't cried in years. Misato felt strangely reminded of herself, only that she herself had mostly overlaid her troubles with cheerfulness. She tried to ignore these parallels for now, as thinking about her problems only brought them to the surface of her mind. Something she had no use for right now.

Shinji noticed that recently, Misto's playfulness had mostly vanished, making her much, much more serious. I couldn't be because of the Angel attacks, as they hadn't troubled her so much before. So he wondered what was weighting on her, to make her so serious. He actually wished she would loosen up a little.

Right then Dr. Akagi left Asuka's room. "How is she?" Hikari asked, concerned about her friend's health.

"You shouldn't worry. She is well, apart from the fatigue caused by the undersupply of oxygen and the stiffness in her muscles after being in the plug for so long. She is tired, but said she didn't want to sleep right now," Ritsuko eased her fears. What she didn't tell them was, how calm Asuka was. Normally, the girl would have complained about being in the hospital repeatedly by now. Asuka being so calm and polite when asked something was almost scary.

"Please, can we see her?" Hikari asked further, hoping that Dr. Akagi would agree.

"I don't see a problem with it, as long as you don't crowd her. Now excuse me, I do have more work." That said, Ritsuko left. There was still a mess to clean up, and three guesses on whose desk this had landed.

Walking in, they saw Asuka lying in the bed, looking at the ceiling. She looked really calm, as if something else was on her mind, so that she didn't notice them at all. Some seconds of silence followed, before she said: "I haven't lost it, If that is what you think." It was surprising for them that she hadn't said this in anger. It sounded simply as tired as she was.

Hikari knew that Asuka propably needed a friend now. "How do you feel?" she asked her, walking to her bedside.

"I'm tired... But I'm afraid to fall asleep," she confessed without hesitation, as if she didn't any longer care if she appeared weak. They were surprised that Asuka of all people would admit to be scared of something.

"Why is falling asleep something to be fearful of?" Rei asked. She was confused, this behaviour didn't fit with what she knew about Pilot Soryu. So she tried to find the reason for this.

"I fear what I will see then." Asuka then looked to Misato. "Have you told anyone about my past?"

Misato shook her head. "No. I didn't want to breach your privacy. That's something only you yourself can tell anyone."

"Ok, stop! What the hell is going on? Has the world stopped spinning? Why no curses, shouting or angry looks anymore?" Toji demanded to know, ignoring Hikari's warning looks that he should use gentler words.

To their surprise, Asuka only looked mildly annoyed, but didn't shout at Toji. "Do you believe in devine punishment?"

Toji crossed his arms. "What has that to do with it?"

Asuka ignored that remark, and instead looked to Hikari. "Hikari, please be honest. Do I act like a bitch?"

"Asuka!" Hikari gasped.

"Please, the naked truth. Don't soften it for me..." she insisted, seeing that the others were taken aback by her choice of words.

Hikari debated with herself if she should really tell her, but then she knew that Asuka insisted on it. She hoped that wasn't an error. "Let me put it this way: Your behaviour concerned me to no end, since you were arrogant, obnoxious and mean to almost anyone except me."

Asuka looked hurt when hearing this from her friend, but accepted this honest answer. She then looked to Rei. "Ayanami, what do you think?"

If Rei was surprised at being asked, she didn't show it, and instead answered as objective as possible. "You are anti-social, have a superiority complex and no mind for the feelings of your fellow people."

Before this could go on, Shinji held up his hands. "Stop! Stop!... Asuka, what is wrong with you? Have you suddenly developed a self-hatred, a masochistic streak, or what? Stop that and just tell us what the hell had happened to you. What's wrong with you?"

Asuka looked taken aback that she had been interrupted in her demolishion of her self-worth. "You want to know? When that Angel swallowed me... I was given no mercy. I saw, felt what I did to others...And... where...where..." It was obvious that this greatly disturbed her, as her eyes started to water. "I saw where this would lead me in the end... It was horrible."

It was disturbing to see Asuka starting to cry on Hikari's shoulder. That wasn't the Asuka they knew, who would always fight. "Oh damn, what happened to you?" Shinji had trouble to connect this nervous breakdown to the feisty girl named Asuka. "Misato, that feels so wrong!"

Misato sighed. She knew since reading Asuka's file and first meeting her, that this girl had real problems. And now everything somehow had been thrown back at her, literally stripping away the mental armor she had worn all these years to push away that pain deep inside herself. "That's something I feared that would happen. Asuka had recieved a serious trauma when she was still a very young child. It had made her develop the nasty personality you know as a shield to lock away the pain and betray herself. Underneath it, she is very vulnerable. She had totally ignored what she did to others with that..."

_A trauma at young childhood... welcome to the club. No, I shouldn't think about that, it's in the past now. I've grown older and wiser than that. _Shinji didn't want to dwell on his own past anymore, since he felt that he had found peace with it. At least that was what he thought. He had a normal life now, and wanted it to stay this way.

"Looks like someone had forced her to eat the apple to enlighten her about it," Toji remarked. By now he cursed himself for it, but he did feel sorry for Asuka, who right now was a wreck.

"What is this traumatic event you speak of? It would help to understand the situation," Rei asked Misato.

**"NO!"** Asuka shouted when Misato was about to open her mouth. "That's my place to tell them!"

"Are you sure? That's some very private stuff. It would be like a soul-striptease," Misato cautioned her. She had no desire for Asuka to accidently hurt herself even more than she already was.

Asuka looked haunted, a far cry from her normal self, but at least some determintion returned. "After what I've seen... I can't hold it in anymore. I need to tell someone!"

And she did.

_-flashback-_

_Little Asuka was crying. Her mommy had been so cruel to her again. This time especially bad. She didn't know why, or how, she was simply too young for it, but one day she was normal, and on the other they had put her into that room, and she had become mean to her._

_She had again ignored her the entire time, talking to a doll as if it was her. It made her angry and sad. Why wasn't mommy giving her attention anymore? Had she been so bad that mommy didn't want her any longer? And she hated this doll, this thing that had dared to replace her. Today she had finally told mommy that she hated the doll._

_Big error._

_Mommy had become really angry. Actually she been horribly scared at how violent she had become. Little Asuka remembered being hit hard, before these men in white had restrained her mommy while one had carried her outside._

_Daddy wasn't helping, as he always was around that woman in white that Asuka didn't like. She felt angry that daddy wasn't trying to help mommy at all. And she disliked that woman for being so close to him._

_She felt horribly alone._

_She saw daddy coming, but it didn't help to calm her down, as he was with that woman. Ignoring both of them, she ran down the corridor. She didn't want to see them and ignored their calls, only wanting to be left alone._

_o_

_Little Asuka was really happy! For the first time since mommy had been put into that room she wasn't sad._

_Today they brought her great news, she was going to pilot mommy's big mecha! She knew, this finally would make mommy not longer being angry with her! Mommy had built the mecha, so she would be proud that her daughter would pilot it. She couldn't wait to tell her the great news. Daddy had tried to talk her out of it, but she didn't listen to him._

_One of the men in white walked with her to mommy's room, but she paid him no attention. She just couldn't wait to finally tell her the good news, to finally see her get away from that doll. That doll she hated so much._

_They arrived at the door, and the man opened up. But when little Asuka looked in, she felt like screaming. But instead she went numb, frozen on the inside, when seeing what had happened inside._

_Her mommy was hanging from the ceiling, a rope made of bedcovers around her neck, unmoving. Her face was dark blue and almost unrecognisable. She didn't hear the hectical calls of the man in white. She had no mind for it. She only had eyes for what was in front of her. She wanted to cry, but strangely the tears didn't come. It was as if she had no tears left. Looking beside mommy, she saw that hated doll, also hung up by the neck with a shoe-lace.._

_For little Asuka it was clear, that hated doll caused her mommy to do this! She felt her anger at the doll pushing aside her horror at what had happened to mommy. Walking into the room, she looked at the doll in hatred, before grabbing it, and ripping its head off. The anger felt good, it lessened the pain she felt at what mommy had done._

_Letting the beheaded doll fall on the floor, she didn't react to her surroundings, when more men in white came in and one of them carried her out of the room._

_o_

_Asuka knew that they were putting mommy to rest._

_But she was unable to cry, her anger again pushing away the pain. She was angry because daddy wasn't crying. She was angry because he was there together with this woman. And she was especially angry because daddy had dared to tell her that that woman would be her new mommy. She had openly told the woman that she hated her for trying to replace mommy. And she had actually enjoyed the look of shock that followed._

_Daddy wasn't sad that mommy was gone and instead already had replaced her. She would never forgive him this. Even for her young mind, this felt like the worst treachery against mommy. Her other relatives were sad, so she wasn't angry at them, only daddy and that woman._

_Little Asuka by now knew that mommy had left her because she hadn't been good enough, not strong enough. She had been weak and mommy had rejected her because of it. But she didn't want to be weak any longer and never again._

_Anger felt good. Anger made her strong. Crying was weak. In her child logic she therefore knew that crying was bad. So she decided to never cry again. She would be strong._

_o_

_Eleven years old Asuka didn't care about the looks she got in the school. She was by far the youngest child, all other were a lot older. One of the side-effects of having a genius IQ. She ignored them. None of them were as smart as her, and that made them not worth her time. Especially since none of them were pilots._

_She was something better, she knew. At the base they treated her like royality. Well, with exception of Misato, the woman from Japan who was ordered to act as her guardian because she fully rejected her father. At first she had been miffed, but Misato was really nice, especially since she didn't even attempt to replace mommy._

_Her rooms at the base were nice. And it really was a good thing that she lived there. She didn't want to meet her father and that woman who still tried to replace her mother. She had made it clear that she couldn't stand it to live under one roof with them anymore. Misato had already proven to be much nicer than them._

_Yes, she knew of her importance, and everyone who didn't was plain ignorant. Her ego again assured, she read what would be preperation for her final exam. After that she would go for the university._

_Asuka ignored everyone else. They weren't worth her time._

_-in the present-_

They had all listened to Asuka telling them this sad story. Asuka had paled and now looked close to another burst of tears. The others couldn't help but to really feel sorry for Asuka. Shinji now knew what Misato had meant all the time with Asuka's issues, although by now he was also disturbed at how Asuka acted now. Hikari felt that her friend now really needed her. Rei was surprised that after all what Asuka had done to her, she now felt compassion for the redhead, something she hadn't thought possible. And Toji almost couldn't believe that someone could have such an fucked up childhood.

"Man, that's so...so..." Toji couldn't find any words that could discribe how wrong that was. And he didn't want to use the word 'fucked up', as he didn't want to anger Hikari.

"That's why why you are this way... That's so sad..." Hikari tried to console Asuka.

"But it doesn't excuse what I've done! I've treated everyone like. I was so horrible, so mean and so agressive. I didn't deserve to..." Asuka whined.

**"GODS, STOP IT!" **Shinji suddenly shouted, interrupting Asuka's again flaring self-hatred. "Your admission of your impossible behaviour is in honor, but stop going into the other extreme!" While he did feel sorry for her, he also felt that this was going out of hand.

"Shinji!" Hikari hissed. "Don't make this even worse for her than it already is!"

But Shinji didn't want to hear it. The display Asuka had given him was so disgusting, he had to say it. "No, I have to say it now before it gets worse. I hated the bitch you had been, but what you do now is as bad as it! Stop bashing yourself like this."

"But I don't want to be that bitch anymore!" Asuka slowly said, feeling unsure how to react to this.

"Gods, you can't simply go from one extreme to the other. You were her, and you are still you. People can't simply turn their lives around in a instant, and that's what you are trying. I have no idea what happened to you in there, but just stop it and try to think over everything more thoroughly," Shinji tried to reason with her.

"Wow, I had no idea you could be this insightful for your age," Misato commented after hearing this speech. "Are you sure you aren't older than you look?" Of course, he was forced to grow up faster than others of his age, but surely not this much.

Asuka's voice mirrored a little irritation, when she asked him, "And what is 'like me'?"

"That's up to you. Let's say the sissy you tried to be a minute ago needs to learn to be more agressive and secure, and the bitch needs to learn how to be nicer and have respect for others. And somewhere in the middle these two will meet." Shinji didn't know that he was capable of speaking like that, and he hoped he wouldn't have to do it again. Especially since most of it was stuff he had 'borrowed' from somewhere else.

She looked like someone who didn't know what to do now. She had been so scared by all what she had been shown by the Devil, that it had put her into a total panic, and so she had wanted to do everything better at once. But after hearing this, Asuka again was confronted with another truth: in her fear and panic she had overdone it totally. Couldn't she get anything right? That wasn't really helping her confidence.

She felt a headarche coming up and her tiredness made itself known. "Leave me alone. I need to sleep..."

They didn't say anything while leaving the room. Asuka watched them leave, feeling totally lost. It was easy for Shinji to say that, but how the hell should she do that? She was still scared to no end, and at the same time frustrated that she had no idea what to do now. But she didn't want to be angry. Right now sleep was the best option. Hopefully her dreams wouldn't be too nasty.

On the corridor meanwhile, Toji whistled. "Man, I didn't know that you could hold speeches like that."

"I didn't want to say in front of her, but I imporvised a lot of it from stuff I've heared in movies. After I couldn't hold my mouth, I had to get out something meaningful, alright? At least I didn't screw it up," Shinji admitted.

"You mean you improvised form movie quotes!" Hikari couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Then let me tell you this: I will make you responsible for every harm that comes to her from that." Hakrai then left, looking ready to snap at someone. Obviously Shinji's methods didn't sit well with her.

"Well done..." Toji commented sarcastically while watching Hikari leave. "You know how she can be when she is pissed. I hope Asuka does all right, because I want to keep my friend named Shinji alive and well." He then ran after Hikari to calm her down.

"I still have work to do. Don't expect me back too soon today," Misato excused herself, leaving them as well. She would tell Asuka later about the comitee wanting to question her. And after all what had happened today, she knew what she would do after work.

_I don't care what others will think about us. After this day... _

"Does everyone suddenly want to avoid me?" Shinji wondered, looking to Rei, who had stayed silent the whole time.

"I do not know, Shinji. However, I won't avoid you..." Rei was interrupted by the grumbling of her stomach, reminding her that it was totally empty and wanted to be fed.

"Uh, looks like your body has already made plans what to do for now," Shinji pointed out the obvious. "Want to visit the mess hall with me?" he offered his arm to her.

Gladly accepting the gestue they started to walk down the corridor. "I do have read that in a relationship, the boyfriend is generally paying for a shared meal," Rei pointed out.

"Well, uh, yes." _While I do appreciate her getting more independent with each day, she is picking up some habits that I wish she wouldn't had... _"Where did you exactly read that?"

"It was a magazine Major Katsuragi gave me," Rei told him. Rei had been a little puzzled by the style of the magizine, and some of the content had been of a rather adult nature. But she had been able to extract some interesting information from it after all.

"Misato..." Shinji now knew that while Misato was more serious right now, she obviously hadn't lost her touch. He would really have to speak with her about that later.

* * *

_...Ryoji's apartment, at the evening..._

"Hadn't thought we would move forward to this point so fast. What did made you change your mind about the pace we should go?" Ryoji asked Misato while she leaned close to him in the bed, both of them still feeling the afterglow.

"After what happened today, seeing Asuka breaking totally down, and being confronted with these people... I realised that every day could be our last. I finally wanted to get clear with this before I wait for too long and regret waiting, before it could be too late," Misato told him, while trying to push away the ugly pictures.

Ryoji knew what she meant. The bloody carnage caused by Unit-02 had been a huge mess. They were still busy with cleaning it up. Asuka's breakdown was hitting close to Misato. And he knew what Misato meant with 'these people'. "So better now than sorry?"

"Yep...and I feel sorry for nothing of it!" she told him with a smile. "Oh, it's already disgusting when Ritsu does this, so could you please...?" Misato asked Ryoji, when seeing him reaching for an after-sex cigarette.

Looking to the cigarette, and then to Misato, he put his smoke away. It wasn't that he was in such a desperate need for nicotine anyway. He was more in a need for his girlfriend. "I remember you taking a smoke after sex."

"That was when I still smoked. I gave it up when I took over guardianship of Asuka for the first time some years ago. Now I think this smoking stuff was some sort of immature rebellion I grew out of," Misato told him. She was glad she gave it up, as she had no wish to end with lung cancer.

"Well, I also don't do it as often as back then. It's a habit I try to shake off." Ryoji then looked thoughtful. "Funny how we both have grown up so much. I remember that in college we did this here more for the fun of it. Now it feels different," Kaji remarked.

"Maybe because it's not simple fucking like back then, but actual affection?" Misato wondered. She too had noticed how this time had been by far more intense than everything in her college days. "Although I do enjoy that part very much as well. I has been great," she added with a light smirk.

"Well, I would be concerned if you didn't," Ryoji added. "But, yeah, back then we actually did it only for the fun of it. Who knows, maybe that bouquet you caught is some kind of good omen?"

Despite this being a serious thing, Misato laughed. "I don't think I will be Mrs. Kaji in the near future." Then she sobered up. "While getting close to you isn't something I will ever regret, marrying you really has to wait until this mess is over... Provided we see the end. After today..."

Ryoji knew very well that there was a chance for them to get killed. After being in that business for some time, he had learned to accept this fact. "That's one of these things we still don't understand, what makes the EVA's tick. Ritsuko propably knows, but no chance she will tell one of us."

"I know. When she gets stubborn, she's like a mule, you can't get a word out of her. And it also really riles me up that I've no idea what the Commander plans, nor what thell the 'Human Instrumentality Project' is, not to speak from that Angel in NERV's basement. Damnit, too many secrets!" Misato hated it to be in the dark, it frustrated her.

"I wish I would know. But Ikari doesn't trust me, rightly as I may say. And SEELE doesn't think I should know too much, so I'm as much in the dark as you are about that. But whatever it is, I have a bad feeling," Ryoji admitted.

Misato held closer to him, feeling that sometimes ignorance was bliss, as she was intimidated by the whole conspiracy that had unfolded in front of her. It had soured her otherwise brighter mood. "We shouldn't talk about it anymore for now... I need some real closeness."

"I thought you said..."

"I said I do enjoy that part very much as well, and I guess that is mutual," she said with a smirk to scare away the heavyness for now. "So I don't have anything against some more. Although it would be better without your gun under the pillow this time."

"Oooops! Sorry, old job habit," Ryoji excused himself, putting his gun on the nightstand and grabbing a new protection. "You know, Ritsuko would call us sex fiends."

"Pffft. She only says this because she hadn't been laid in how-I-should-know long. And when we both like it and feel close, to hell with what others think about us," Misato waved it off. It wasn't just sex, she wanted him, her boyfriend, fully and total. That was something deeper.

"That's the spirit!" Ryoji laughed.

* * *

_...two days later, Misato's apartment..._

Asuka laid on her bed, trying to make sense of the mess her life had become. She had been released from hospital, but wasn't allowed to return to her normal daily life yet. She was thankful for small favors, as she felt she couldn't look the student population into the eyes yet. It summoned too many feelings of guilt inside her. Although her grilling by the comitee about the Angel trying to attack her mind was close to that in the way of intimidation.

Asuka shuddered. Without Misato preparing her for that, she would have broken down. She never wanted to experience that again.

The panic about her experiences in the Angel had by now ebbed away, and it left behind a void. To the others, she neither was her old, obnoxious self, nor the whiny girl they had seen in the hospital. She kept mostly to herself and was quiet. That was because Asuka was still at a loss where to go. She couldn't go on as if nothing had happend, too deep were the consequences of it etched into her mind. But she also knew by now that she was she, and thus it wasn't as simple as to act totally different.

"Oh, verdammt!" she screamed in frustration, throwing the pillow across the room. She didn't fear that anyone could hear her. Shinji was at school, and Misato at work. Pen-Pen didn't count as he couldn't speak anyway.

Finally she had enough of sitting around. Walking into the kitchen, she poured herself some milk, trying to get her thoughts into order._Shinji could say it so easy! "These two meet somewhere in the middle". Gods, I feel so burned out..._

Going on the balcony, she looked over Tokyo-3. Some of the buildings were missing; the ones the Angel had sucked up. At least the mess was gone, a rainstorm yesterday had helped to finally clean the city from this taint.

Leaning on the railing while nipping at her glass, Asuka saw on her inner eye again the regrets about things she had done in her life. After hiding herself for so long behind her emotional shield, all the shame, embarrassment and guilt had at first threatened to crush her, and now she felt miserable. She knew she couldn't undo these things. And she now felt like a sailor without a compass in the middle of the ocean.

But she knew, she had to go on somehow, however, she she still hadn't decided on how to do that yet. It was hard for her that most of her pride had been swept away, leaving her sruggling to regain something she could be proud of.

_I don't want to end in that grave... No, do not want to die at age 20!_This picture haunted her, the ultimate reminder that she was on the path of self-destruction if she would simply go on as if nothing had happened. But what to do? It had become painfully clear that she couldn't just totally alter her life in one swift move. She couldn't help with who she was. And someone who apoligised for everything and was whiny... that wasn't her.

"That's useless..." she sighed in defeated frustration. She was going in a circle where A led to B led to C and then back to A.

And there there were the painful memories she had surpressed for so long. They had been forced up and now haunted her in her sleep. She didn't want to remember these things, but she couldn't banish the ghosts she had called. The best she could do now was to somehow live with them. The nightmares she got from them were bad enough.

Walking back into the kitchen, Asuka couldn't help but to be thankful to Shinji as well. He had spelled out that denying all her previous decisions wouldn't help. That she would have to accept who she is, and instead would make new, different decisions. Setting the glass on the counter, she returned to her room, flopping down on her bed.

_The more I try to find the way how to do it, the bigger the headarche... Maybe there isn't a way at all? _she wondered. It didn't bring her any closer to an answer. The arrogant Asuka who was full of herself was dead, but nothing else had yet replaced her, leaving behind a girl wondering what to do now.

But she wouldn't pity herself. She had regained enough dignity to stop that.

* * *

_...some days later..._

The rumor mill in class 2-A was running perfectly. Asuka Langley Soryu was expected to return today, and that was something some dreaded.

When Asuka hadn't returned to school after the mess in the city had been cleaned up, the rumors had started. Some said she was injured, while others speculated that she had left the city entirely, and others whispered she could have died. It became bad enough that Hikari had to step in and say that Asuka had become really distressed by the last battle and therefore had been ordered to stay home so that she could recover.

"I don't give anything on what's floating around right now. I know you guys told me how she fared, but how is she doing now?" Mana asked Shinji, while he looked through his homework papers.

"Hard to say..." He himself had to make sense of it. "At first she had been only quiet and passive after she got home. Strewn in were several bursts of frustration, however they were nothing compared to what we are used to from her. I think she was depressed, too. In the last days... It's as if she tries to get her act together. Yesterday she told Misato that she would go bonkers if holed up in the apartment any longer. Wonder what takes her so long right now..."

"Did they dare to put her into the EVA?" Mana asked further. She didn't want to imagine what could happen if Asuka flipped while in there. Not a pleasant thought.

"They want to do this today. All of us have to be ready in case it went wrong," Shinji answered. He himself hoped that they weren't needed. "Dr. Akagi said she will expect her ratio to be lower. No wonder..."

He stopped when he saw Asuka entering the class room. Actually everyone went silent. Compared to how worn down she had looked in the last days, she had obviously put some work into again looking acceptable. Half of the class expected a harsh remark for looking at her. But Asuka went straight to her place. Of course this only added fuel to the rumors about her, evident by the whispering that started.

First period went by without much else. Asuka answered some questions from the teacher, but otherwise stayed quiet. So when first period was over and the minutes between the periods started, the whispering was even more intense.

It was then, when it happened.

A group of boys, led by infamous Isuya Iroke must have thought that this meant they could speak about her without whispering while in her hearing range. They also speculated what exactly was the matter with Asuka. Isuya obviously felt safe, when he said: "Either they removed her brain, not that there was much intelligence to begin with, or some boinked it out of her. Bet she is quite the slut."

He shut up when Asuka walked over to him, looking not pleased. "I heared that."

"And?" Isuya challenged her. The next thing he knew was her stomping hard on his left foot, causing him the let out a not very masculine squeal of pain.

"Never call me that again." That said, Asuka returned to her place.

The class wondereed what was the matter with her. Normally, Isuya would have recieved a beating from her, together with a storm of profanity. The other pilots wondered what Asuka was doing. She seemed quite passive right now, and much less agressive. And someone who didn't know her before would think that she was lonely right now.

The day slowly went on, until it was lunch time.

"Look at this. Normally she would parade around, stick together with these other girls 'high on the social ladder' and belittle other students she thinks of as unworthy of her presence. Now she is just sitting there and keeping to herself. You didn't lie when you said she had been totally beside herself," Kensuke observed from their usual place under the tree in the school yard.

"It's actually kind of ironic. Seeing Asuka Langley Soryu the attention-whore so isloated. Would have never thought I'd see that," Toji added, mostly objective. He really didn't feel like gloating over Asuka's misfortune.

"I do not know her as well as you do, since she had never spoken with me, but after all you told me about her, this is totally unlike her," Mayumi observed. She had become a part of their group by now, although she still was careful. Not that they could fault her for it, she had had too many disappointments in her life. "Instead of her usual self she now reminds me of myself. Most either are scared of her, dislike her or have no dealings with her. And these ...'high-up' girls avoid her now. She is... totally alone."

"Yes, says a lot about these girls that they dropped her like a hot potato as soon as she didn't any longer act like Miss Important," Toji said bitter. He had made bad experiences with these kind of girls, also a reason why he disliked Asuka.

"They say boys can be agressive. But girls can be cruel to no end," Mayumi lightly said, speaking of experience.

Mana sighed. Asuka hadn't been very close to her, but also not nasty (Rei had received the burnt of it). Seeing her like this was depressing. "I wonder how she feels right now?"

"She has brooded the entire time how to go on, but said nothing. I wonder what she had decided, that she acts like this?" Shiji wondered.

Apruptly Rei sat her bento box aside and stood up. "Speculating won't help. I will simply ask her."

"Rei, do you really think this is a good idea?" Shinji cautioned her.

Rei did understand Shinji's concern for her, as she had been the one who had suffered most under Asuka's nastiness. And she did feel moved by it. But her decision stood. "It will be impossible to know what Pilot Soryu wants to do, unless she is asked." That said, she walked across the yard to Asuka.

They watched the situation unfold. It was rather anticlimatic. Once Rei had started talking with Asuka, they did just that: talking. It took some minutes, before Rei returned to them. Despite trying to hold a neutral face, her features showed a little surprise. It seemed Rei hadn't thought that it would go through without any remarks from the redhead.

"Pilot Soryu was very forthcoming. She said, that she didn't manage to make a full decision on how to proceed. For now she does want to reduce her level of agression and, as she put it, make different decisions than she used to be. She said that she will go one step after the other, as she can not change herself over night," Rei reported to them, while returning her attention to her bento box.

"I think I will give her company. She doesn't really have a clue how to act around people other than how she did in the past. She needs assistance," Hikari decided, standing up. "Sorry Toji, but I think for now this is important." Toji looked a little disappointed, but said nothing against it, watching Hikari leave.

"She can be really glad to have someone as understanding as you," Mana observed. "I shudder to think she could have gotten together with one of these guys," she added further, pointing to some REAL jocks hanging around the gym hall.

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Toji knew these guys. He was Einstein compared to them. They had as much brains as a monkey had money on the bank. _Scary thought, Hikari with one of them... No, I better don't even imagine that!_

"Your friend is very nice. I think many boys would have dropped a girl that didn't pay 100 percent attention to them," Mayumi observed, while pushing up her glasses.

"Yeah, that's our Toji. Tries to be the tough guy, but really soft on the inside... Uhm, Mayumi?" Kensuke asked her a little unsure. "What I want to ask you...do... doyouhavetimeafterschool?" he finally rushed out, nervous. He couldn't believe it, that he, the school Hentai, could get the jitters over a girl.

Mayumi's cheeks reddened a little. "You... you want to spend the afternoon with me?" she carefully asked. She had never asked something like this before.

Kensuke was still nervous. _God, why am I such a coward? _"Y-yes! I thought we could go into the city, have some fun."

A small smile appeared on Mayumi's lips. "That's so nice of you... I-I... Yes, I will come with you." She really felt happy at taking part in something that every girl would do in her age, something she had been excluded from until now. And maybe it would help her to push away for a while the nasty reminded that she would have to report Asuka's behaviour to her mysterious blackmailers, who had her life in their hands.

"Looks like Kensuke is totally taken by our cute bookworm by now. Had never thought that it would come to this one day. Kensuke the Hentai getting straightened out," Toji whispered to Shinji with a smirk.

"Yeah." Shinji was only glad that finally Kensuke had more than just his military-fetisch.

* * *

_...later that day..._

"Well, how bad is it?" Misato asked Maya, while looking at the screen showing Asuka inside Unit-02's entry plug. They had decided to test in the real unit, as only that would give them useful answers. Judging by Asuka's mood in the last days, they would have to fear the worst.

"Hmm...It is surprising," Lt. Ibuki mumbled, while checking the numbers again.

"What do you mean with that?" Misato asked.

Maya looked up from her numbers, clearly surprised. "At first her synch-ratio fluctuated strongly. But now it has calmed down. For someone in this emotional state, she manages to hold a good score, it is only few points below her usual ratio, but this was to be expected," she reported to Misato.

"Asuka, how do you feel?" Misato asked her, looking to the screen showing her.

"The Evangelion feels different," she answered unsure.

"In which way?" Misato wondered. How could the Evangelion feel different to Asuka? But on the other hand, Shinji had told her how inside Unit-01, he felt more secure, and his ratio was higher in it, than in plain synch-tests outside the EVA.

Asuka tried to find words. Normally she had treated the EVA-02 like a normal machine, even though she was attached to it. And it felt like a machine, it was simply there. But now after her... breakdown, sitting in there felt different. "It feels...warmer, more familiar. Sorry Misato, I can't really describe it."

"Strange..." Misato wondered what that could be. First Shinji, now Asuka. The EVA's got more mysterious with each day. And she hated being in the dark.

Asuka meanwhile felt some of the uneasiness of the last days slip from her. She felt a warm feeling lightly brush over her mind, easing her fears a little. Sure, she still was confronted with the fact that her way of life had been revealed as a big, steaming pile of bullshit, but right now it didn't feel so crushing to her. She didn't really want to know why she hadn't felt like this in Unit-02 until now.

She didn't care from where it came from, as long as it was there.

* * *

_...in the middle of the night, Rei's bedroom..._

Night had fallen over Tokyo-3. And most of its inhabitants were asleep. A long and hard day was again behind them. No one in a certain apartment complex was awake at this time of the night... Until one of them was interrupted in her sleep.

Waking up, Rei looked to the illuminated digits of her alarm clock, which she had brought after it became clear that she wouldn't any longer wake up exactly when she needed to. It was just a little after 1 in the night.

_This dream had been intense enough to rouse me out of my sleep, _Rei thought, remembering very clear what had happened in it.

No way that she and Shinji were ready for that yet! Taking inventory of herself, she realised that maybe some of what she had felt hadn't been a dream after all.

She had wiggled off the bed sheet in her sleep, pooling it around her feet, exposing her only underwear-clad body to the mild night air coming in through the open window. She was covered in a thick layer of sweat, dampening the bedcovers. And she realised where her right hand had ended up.

Gently extracting it from under the fabric, she took a sniff at the fluid smeared on it. _It smells like...girl. And it smells like me. Does it always smell like this?_

Of course Rei wasn't stupid and knew what she had done in her sleep. But she started thinking. If that was strong enough to wake her up, how would it feel? Sure, she had touched that area when washing herself, but she had never tried on intend to... Finally her curiosity got the better of herself, and she decided to experiment a little and see what would happen.

It took her over a hour to finally find sleep, totally exhaused. Needless to say that she had found something she really liked, although she knew that most likely it would be much better with Shinji 'assisting' her in every way possible.

Maybe she would experiment a little more at another time.

_**to be continued...**_

_**Next Episode:**_

_**"Bardiel"**_


	24. Bardiel

I will say these things in advance: I have absolutely no rights at NGE, but you should have already known that.

The story itself is basically a re-telling of the original storyline, but twisted into my way. While at the beginning there seem to be only few divigances, it will become more with each episode. The people, their motivations and the backgrounds are while holding true to the basic layout, changed at my imagination in many details, so canon-purists now are allowed to flame me.

NOTE: I hate both, the ending of the TV series, and how End of Evangelion turned out. So don't expect any of those outcomes.

This is Shinji/Rei. I had to invent quite some new stuff for Bardiel, so be surprised what will happen.

For all the work I put into this, I would like to get reviews. I will always try to respond to every review I get.

* * *

**Chapter 23: Bardiel**

"Well, here is it, the result of all our work: the dummy plug prototype. We were able to overcome most of the difficulties as planned, by using Rei's digitalised mental thought processes as a baseline. But some problems remain. The system can prove to be quite instable, that's what the MAGI calculated, making it only of limited use for combat duty," Ritsuko reported to Gendo, while they both looked at the plug hanging from the transport crane in the technical department, from where it would be transported to the cages.

It looked mostly like a normal entry plug, only that it was mostly painted red. Other than the painted-on designation, nothing indicated that this was the result of the auto-pilot project for the Evangelions, NERV had been recently working on.

"For now it is enough if it works at all," Gendo said short, inspecting the result of the long work. "The EVA won't notice any difference between this and the real Rei?"

"No superfacial one, although after what we know, there is always the risk of...interference," Ritsuko cautioned him. "While the system can fake Rei's presence in the plug, it can't emulate her soul or emotions. It's essentially just a machine with special programming."

Gendo knew exactly what she was talking about. And the possibility was clearly there that this fake-Rei could be revealed by... her. But he had made his decision. "Unit-01 is accepting Rei, so swap the normal entry plug with this prototype. We can test it once the opportunity comes."

"As you wish, Commander..." But inwards, Ritsuko doubted the wisdom of installing it in Unit-01 of all EVA's.

_Do you really think it will give you her gratitude, Gendo? _She doubted it. The Commander was obsessed with getting his wife back, but he obviously had lost sight of the trees inside the forest. She doubted that installing this machine into Unit-01 would meet Yui's approval, if she was even aware at all inside there.

Normally she would have loved seeing something putting a rift between these two... But all the secrets she hadn't been told had caused a rift between HER and the Commander. Their late-night meetings had lost a lot of their appeal, and she started to feel like a substitute who had to act as Gendo's outlet for pent up urges until... She didn't want to finish that thought. It simply felt hollow now.

_I only hope we won't have an amok running Unit-01 at our hands. _She wouldn't have blinked an eye if Gendo had selected an different EVA, but now she had a bad feeling.

* * *

_...unkown location..._

"How is the speciem doing?" a man in a army uniform asked a scientist in a dimly lit room, where the most prominent object was a huge, transparent cylinder filled with blue nutrient solution, in which the embryonal body of Adam, the first Angel, floated.

"The growth rate is minimal. With the eyes, you wouldn't be able to notice any difference, even after months. It is puzzling to us why it's metabolism is now working on such a low key, after growing back to this form in the first place," the scientist explained.

"Good, then this won't attract the attention of the government. These fools in Peking are weak and have no idea of the danger that this thing presented in NERV's hands. Good that our spy network worked well, despite the obscene security measures surrounding it and it's secret-keeping. Too bad that we are now unable to again infiltrate the geofront," the officer commented, before leaving for the elevator.

The scientist again looked at the first Angel. Some of his fellow scientists in their 'circle' had suggested destroying it. But they were in the minority. The opportunity to get this mighty weapon of mass destruction under control had been simply to good to ignore it. That, and the knowledge they could gain from it...

No one would ever find Adam here. Not even these other monsters that were attacking NERV.

* * *

_...class 2-A, two days later..._

"Wonder what is taking the teacher so long..." Kensuke wondered, while talking with Mana and Shinji. Right now their history teacher was already over ten minutes late, and the class had no desire to sit still the entire time. Not even Hikari Horaki could make them to do so.

"No idea... Maybe he forgot his heart pills," Shinji said, referring to the age of their history teacher. Not that he complained, that guy was boring and had only one topic. Typical case of senility. Looking to Asuka's place, he saw the redhead being busy with reading through her notes.

Asuka had become somewhat better since she had come back to school three weeks ago. By now the new year 2016 had begun, and after some excitement with the Christmas party in Misato's apartment (though some would call it madness), life had returned to normality. Asuka wasn't moping around as much as in the initial days of her crisis, and she had changed her behaviour a little in slow steps. While some of her pride had returned by now, it was in manageable quantities, and she no longer paraded it around. And she also wasn't any longer acting like the spoiled princess or shooting around her poison.

Of course that didn't mean that she had become tame. Obvious, real stupidy still riled her up to no end, and when someone managed to make her really pissed then may the almighty have mercy on his or her souls. At least she calmed down much faster after it was over, and her anger had become more manageable. It showed that she hadn't lost her bite.

But the girl still was pretty much isolated, result of her effectively becoming off-limits in her arrogant agressiveness. While she tried not to show it, the ones close to her could see that she felt alone. And while there was now an armstice between her and the three pilots Shinji, Rei and Toji, it wouldn't mean that they would suddenly become big friends. Asuka had no idea how to make REAL friends (Hikari didn't count as it wasn't Asuka who made the first steps) and the other three pilots still had her nastiness fresh in mind. For something like friendship to grow, it would need time and efford from both sides.

Short, Asuka was still trying to find her way, despite her progress, it was still a long way. It didn't help that she still had to find some other main interests outside of piloting.

"At least the Angels leave us alone for the time being. Some huge thing demolishing the city is the last we need right now," Mana added, referring to the huge construction site, where the missing buildings that had sunk into the last Angel were rebuilt.

"Yeah...can't use that right now..." Kensuke appeared a little away with his thoughts.

"Please don't worry about Mayumi again. Just because she has reported in sick for this day won't mean that she is dying. She said it's just that she had eaten something bad that had really upset her stomach," Mana reminded Kensuke, hoping to dissipate his worries.

While it would be ridiculous to say that Mayumi was his girlfriend, as she clearly wasn't, these two had become quite good friends. They had shared a number of similar experiences throughout their lives, and could relate to each other. And it was easy to see that his attention was good for her, as she appeared much more happy.

"I know, but I can't help it..." He had actually called her over his cell phone between periods, and she had tried to calm him down as well. She had said it wasn't that bad, only that having to throw up was really disgusting.

"Maybe we can put you mind on something different," Shinji offered, looking to Mana for approval. Seeing her nod, he continued. "There is an excercise outside the city tomorrow afternoon -Mana and me."

"Excercise?" That got his interest. "Man, you have to tell me more! Why? How?" Now he was in his element. It had its advantage to have friends in that position.

Shinji saw that he had him one the hook now. Mana decided to tell her part of the story. "Hanson's men tooled around with Trident, enhancing some systems. And after it, Hanson's ego got the better of him, and he had said in the open during the meeting with the NERV high-ups, that Trident could go toe-to-toe with an EVA in a fair battle without AT-fields. Started a contest of egos. Guess how it ended..."

Shinji continued. "Dr. Akagi thought it would be a good mock battle, although I think she wants to heal her hurt pride. So they picked me, as the best pilot, to lead Unit-01 against Trident and, as she put it, 'defend NERV's honor'. We will be both equipped with weapons that simulate hits and battle it out on the abandoned fields outside Tokyo-3."

"Oh man! I have to film that! Where? Where exactly?" Kensuke knew that this could be a perfect chance to get a really exciting event on tape, as he hadn't anything better to do today.

Shinji could see clearly that Kensuke wouldn't take a no as an answer. "Remember where we camped? The huge rice fields behind the next hill. And stay on that hill. One time almost accidently squishing you with the EVA is enough."

Kensuke knew that place, but he was prevented from answering when Hikari barked: **"Everyone to their seats!"** Making it clear that the teacher would finally arrive. Everyone scrambled to their places, and not a minute too early, as the teacher entered. "Stand! Bow! Sit!"

Some minutes later it was business as usual. Their history teacher was still the same: boring as hell and enjoying to torture the pupils with his monotone speech about Second Impact. Half of the class looked as if in real danger of leaving into dream-land.

Shinji shifted a pencil between his fingers, glancing to Rei. Even she looked bored, and that meant something, as it was difficult for Rei to become bored. While looking at her, he remembered her recent change in behaviour. He had no idea what had caused it, but recently it seemed that she couldn't get enough of him. There was more cuddling and kissing than usual, and he felt that Rei knew very well what effect this had on him. It was almost as if Rei had gotten new ideas she wanted to test on him. Ideas about something VERY specific.

_Could it be from that issue of 'Playgirl' that Misato had given her? Nah, it started later than that. Still... _Shinji remembered too well that episode. He had no idea why Misato had found it neccassary to give Rei an issue of Playgirl, but he hadn't been thrilled by it. More actually had he went on a week-long cooking strike.

But to his disappointment, Misato had said she would then enjoy dinner with Mr. Kaji, as he was quite a good cook (something not expected, cosidering his reputation), thus making his tactic useless. At least Misato had learned that a tidy apartment is better than the junk yard she had lived in before, freeing Shinji from forcing her to do it.

Returning to Rei's risen affection for him, he found no answer to why she acted this way. _It's as if all of a sudden she really wants to have much more of me. Gods, Rei. You want to make me burst with arousal? Right now my hand gets far to much excercise..._

Right now, Rei was also thinking about her recent behaviour shift.

Her recent... late night activities... had really fueled her desire for Shinji. Sure, they had agreed that they weren't ready for _this_. But her logic ended when her hormones and desires spoke a different language. Only her strict discipline prevented her from doing anything rash. But these so natural urges that had awakened in her wanted to be statisfied, eg., her body produced even more hormones, flooding her with a number of emotions she could only barely control.

Right now she felt like a normal teenager who was overwhelmed with the awekening of this part of her biology. She got ideas that made even her blush, and her dreams had by now all become quite 'interesting'. That, and she had to replace some hopelessly ruined pieces of underwear.

_I did not know that the effects of the human sexuality urge could be this strong, _Rei thought, her experiences up to now having awakened a hunger for more she hadn't thought she would posess.

She wondered how much longer she could control herself before giving in fully.

* * *

_...Mayumi's apartment..._

Mayumi winced a little, her hand flat over her bare mid-section. She should have known that something like this would happen sooner or later. The last shot yesterday had been bad, most of its effects gone, resulting in the pain partially returning. And today's shot would need some time to take effect. In the meantime she was stuck with strong stomach pains. The pain always started there and would spread through her entire body. At least she would be spared this.

She hadn't really lied when she had said that she had an upset stomach, she had only altered the cause. And beside the pain, roughly every 20 minutes her stomach would pull tightly together, forcing her to throw up violently. She felt lousy.

_I bet they did that on purpose, just to show me that they could pull my plug at any time..._ But she was interrupted in her thoughts when she felt her stomach contracting. "Urrrghll!" Holding her hand over her mouth, she ran to the toilet, throwing up what little stomach fluid had remained after several times sacrificing to the porcelain god.

Coughing, she cursed these unknown assholes who had done this to her. The shot would still need at least a hour before the effects would kick in, until then it would be more of the same. It strengthened her belief that this was intended as a reminder of her hopeless situation.

And it had worked perfect, as she felt really helpless against these invisible, powerful people. That she had been picked just by coicidence was the insult to the injury, her life ruined just because they picked her from a list when they looked for someone to experiment on. The constant conflict that she was commiting treason on her friends was eating on her as well.

Right now she hated her life.

* * *

_...in the middle of the night..._

Tokyo-3 slept an uneasy sleep, as a huge lightning storm swept over the city. Strong rainshowers poured down on the city, flooding the streets, while strong winds slammed the water against the buildings of the fortress city, howling between the tall structures. The air was filled with roaring thunder, while white-glowing lightning bolts illuminated the cloud-covered sky in a bizarre show of nature's might.

The guards in the military base at the edge of the city weren't impressed by it, doing their duty as they always did. A group of them was right now patrolling at the outer fence near the huge hangar where Trident was stored, checking for any damages at the fence and any possible intruders. Not that they expected anyone in this weather.

"Strange weather today..." one of them wondered, pulling the cowl of his rain protection further over his helmet to protect himself against the strong rain.

"Yes, almost as if the Kami themselves have a bad day," the soldier beside him added, while wiping the water off his face.

**-KKRRRRRRAAAAACCCCKKK-KK-K-**

The sudden loud thunder ripped the patrol soldiers out of their conversation. Looking to their right, they just saw an lightning bolt hitting the huge hangar building! The Sargent leading the group cursed. "Quick, we have to check if it caught fire!" he shouted to his men.

Running to the hangar, they entered through the personell door. Turning on the lights, they climbed up the ladders to check the roof. Checking it, they couldn't find a fire, and the only damage was a hole in the roof of roughly a square meter, caused by the lightning bolt. Checking the Trident, they saw that it wasn't damaged on the outside.

"Let's go to the guard house and report that. I bet the poor guys in the technical section will have to check that thing completely inside-out by the morning," the Sargent ordered his men. Turning off the lights, they left the huge hangar and the Trident in dark silence.

It was very silent.

Deathly silent.

_**Check what you want, you won't find me until it is too late... Far too late...**_

* * *

_...the next day, the fields outside Tokyo-3..._

It was a bright and sunny day, nothing left of the lightning storm that had poured its contents over the city in the last night. The warm air was humid and no cloud was seen in the sky. A sharp contrast to the peaceful landscape were the two battle machines currently parked on the huge fields. Both, Trident and Unit-01, were currently inactive, while the last preperations were made for the excercise.

"Man oh man! Really nice of them tellin' me of it!" Kensuke said in anticipation, checking his camcorder. He had brought a folding chair and right now was on the top of the nearby hill outside the closed-off area, waiting for the action to start, overlooking the area. He was also in good spirits because Mayumi felt better, although she hadn't been well enough yet to return to school.

Focusing the lens on the ground between the huge machines, he noticed Mana and Shinji talking. "Hmmm, I wonder what they're talking about?"

Down below, Mana and Shinji were busy with going through the last details for their mock battle. "Ok, all our weapons have been put into the simulation mode. The computer will tell how serious a hit is. Too much simulated damage, and one of us is out," Mana told Shinji, hoping that she had gotten all of it when it had been explained to her.

"I'm still amused that we have to settle this dispute. It's like people who want to show off that they have the bigger car," Shinji said in light amusement. He didn't want to say in Mana's presence that it was more like a contest between men who want to see who has the longest. Dr. Akagi had been quite hurt in her pride she had over her work, when Hanson had made his announcement.

He found it hilarious that Dr. Akagi had entered such an contest of big egos that usually were restricted to men who wanted to show off their wealth in the way of "my house, my car, my boat". Sometimes adults could be so childish.

"Let them have their little ego contest. The best we can get out of this is some more practise," Mana offered. She saw all this much more relaxed, there was no competition between her and Shinji. So the whole thing was just a personal test of skill for them. No more, no less.

Meanwhile inside the command centre, the last preperations were done.

"All right, we're done down here! The MAGI will analyse the battle all the time!" Lt. Hyuga called to the command level, while dusting off his hands, all the cable connections done.

"Good, then we will now see who is the better on the field," Hanson said in anticipation. He had no doubt that Trident would win. Without its AT-field, the EVA was as vulnerable as every other machine. And Trident had flying abilities.

"We will see..." Ritsuko said cooly. Despite trying to look indifferent, everyone could see that she couldn't wait to see Hanson's face when the Trident would be on the loser side. She was fully confident that Shinji would win against Mana.

"They act like children who show off their toys and argue who has the coolest," Misato sarcastically commented to Ryoji, while listening to these two getting into an argument about the pros and cons of their respective war machine. Something she found really immature and hadn't expected from Ritsuko.

Ryoji couldn't help but to put on a slight smirk. That was exactly like the Ritsuko from college. "Ritsuko takes a lot of pride in her work, even if she mostly denies it, even to herself. Guess Hanson hit her at her most vulnerable spot."

"At least shows us that she is still human." Misato sometimes really felt that Ritsuko's behaviour was too cool and aloof, her worst weapon biting sarcasm. Good for her that at least sometimes this control slipped. Like now.

Ryoji had no trouble to see that Misato also meant her disappointment with Ritsuko, who had so many secrets from her. "Cut her some slack. Maybe she will get around. Oh...looks like they are about to get started."

Gendo watched the entire thing from the command seat at the top level. He couldn't care less about Dr. Akagi statisfying her ego and also felt that this entire excercise was a waste of time because it was pointless. But matters involving Unit-01 by now were too important to ignore them, so he had decided to watch this extended battle of the egos.

Vice-Commander Fuyutsuki stood beside him. He also knew the real reason for this contest (everyone knew that the Angels most likely would not appear in the form of the Country Crawler), but unlike Gendo his interest was greater, as it would be also a test of skill between the pilots. "I do hope the new installed dummy plug system won't interfere with the performance of our pilot. It would be very embarrassing to lose against the machine of the army."

"It won't be of any consequence. It is the AT-field that makes the Evangelion so powerful. An excercise without it is pointless," the Commander dryly said. Major Hanson's term of no AT-fields meant taking the most important weapon and defense from Unit-01, thus negating the usefulness of all this.

_He is as full of hot air as he is fat. Too bad that I have to bother with him, _Gendo mentally added. For him, Major Hanson was annoying to no end.

Fuyutsuki wasn't surprised at Gendo's low opinion of the mock battle. "True... Concerning the dummy plug, I hope we never have to use it. Dr. Akagi told me that it can become very instable, causing dangerous reactions from the EVA."

"This is irrelevant. As long as the dummy plug is capable of keeping the Evangelion moving, side-effects are of no consequence." Gendo really didn't care, because he knew that any side-effect could only help to win the battle against an Angel. Any kind of doubt wasn't allowed for him, and he quickly squished it every time it flared up.

Fyutsuki said nothing, but he didn't like this in the slightest. _You really play with the fire. The consequences of the dummy plug getting out of control will be horrible. And you didn't care about those who will be affected the most... Do you think she will thank you for this?... Can a man really become so broken?_

"Everyone on their stations, we start now!" called Lt. Aoba.

The huge battle machines got up, when their pilots took control of them. But Mana found that she had some difficulties with the controls, there seemed to be a lag in the reaction time today. "There's a lag in the controls. Don't tell me that the lightning last night damaged the electronics," she asked Hanson over the comm. If the lag got worse, she wouldn't have any chance to win this.

"Can't be. We checked it inside-out this morning, and everything was Ok. Try to compensate, all right?" Hanson wasn't thrilled that there could be a defect in Trident, as it meant it could make them lose.

"Okay, but don't blame me if it gets worse," she cautioned him, before cutting the connection.

"Oh man, that's great!" Kensuke breathed, when the excercise began. He hoped he could tape it all.

Shinji at first tried the agressive approach, as did Mana. Both tried to knock each other out quickly with their distance weapons But there were no hits. The EVA was too agile, easily dodging any simulated blasts. And while Trident was massive, it had the ability to fly, and Mana made much use of it. The brute force approach having failed, they tried to outsmart each other.

"You know, until now it's a draw. They are both quite good," Ryoji commented to Misato.

"Yes. Trident might look like a walking bunker, but it's surprisingly agile. Maybe Ritsu will be the one leaving this with her pride hurt. I..." Misato stopped when she heared something from one of the army technicians that checked on Trident from temporarily installed consoles.

"Major, we get strange signals from the Trident," a soldier called Hanson.

"Strange signal? Be more specific!" he ordered.

"I sounds like morse code... Wait, there appears text."

Hanson looked on the screen, and paled. "_'How will you like to fight against one of your own?' _... ABORT! NOW! Shut the system down!" he called when realising what this could mean.

The soldier slammed his fist on the big button, but nothing happened. "We can't! The shutdown is blocked!"

Inside the cockpit, Mana suddenly no longer had any control over her machine, all gauges went haywire, reduced to wildly flashing lights. "Damn! What in all names is that?" She tried the other controls, but nothing worked! "What's going on?"

_**"HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!"**_

Everyone in the command centre froze when they heared this arrogant laughter coming from the audio systems of the main screen. And at the same moment the alarm klaxons blared, sending everyone into wild activity.

"We have detected a blue wavelength pattern! It comes... it comes from the Trident!" Lt. Hyuga reported hectically. "We detect an AT-field around it!"

Misato had been shocked only for some seconds. "Send the other pilots to their EVA's!" she commanded, thankful that the other pilots were in the base right now. They had been forbidden to enter the bridge, but would watch from a seperate screen.

Right then, more happened.

On the main screen they saw a thick, oily substance oozing out from some places on Trident, revealing strange, biological growth. Trident's eyes suddenly flashed in an angry white while Unit-01 retreated several steps. "What the hell...?" Shinji said in surprise. He hadn't expected anything like this.

_**"Yes, little Lilim, I bet you are surprised..."**_ came a mocking voice, which had a destictive hiss in it, from the comm system. _**"And I, Bardiel, have outsmarted you. Attack me, if you want... But remember..."**_A picture of Mana appeared, how she tried in half a panic to get out of her cockpit._**"...your little friend will share whatever you throw at me."**_

"You bastard!" Shinji screamed in helpless anger.

_**"It looks like I have to teach you a lesson in manners."**_

Shinji barely had time to dodge, before the now very leathal weapons of the posessed Trident ripped a crater into the ground. Shinji had no illusion, the Angel had obviously modified them so that they would get through his field. And he had none of his weapons right now! And even if he had, he had to think of Mana, who was held hostage by the Angel!

"I have to retreat!" he called into the comm.

"Denied." Everyone was surprised, when suddenly the Commander spoke, essentially taking away Misato's command power. "From now on I will lead this operation. Pilot, attack the target directly and destroy it."

Shinji was surpised to hear the voice of his father, but then he knew what this order would mean. "No, I would bring Mana in danger!"

But obviously the Commander wasn't interested at all in this. "The pilot of the Trident is of no importance, Third Child. The target has to be destroyed. This is a direct order. Do you question it?" Gendo's voice was emotionless, he really only did care for the Angel's destruction right now, Mana's life meant nothing to him.

Internally he had briefly hesitated. A small part of him had warned him that what was asking his son for was horrible, and it would have severe consequences. He quickly stomped out this doubt, but telling himself that it would be alright. _He will understand later that it has to be done. He will understand and accept it._

But a small part of him he had thought he had killed years ago still silently cried that this was wrong.

Shinji didn't answer immediately, as the biological compound oozing out of the Trident had formed two black whips, attacking Unit-01, which barely avoided the strikes. Instead of Shinji, Hanson spoke up, looking horrified. "Are you mad? I won't allow you to sacrifice her!"

"One more word from you, Major Hanson, and I will order the guards to shoot you on the spot," Gendo threatened Hanson coldly. Hanson went as white as a sheet, and from this moment he knew that the Commander was really capable of everything.

"I don't care!" Everyone returned their attention to Shinji on the screen. "I can't risk to harm her! I retreat anyway!" He seemed determined to do so, strating to run away from the Trident.

"Then you are no longer fit to pilot..." Totally ignoring Shinji, Gendo looked down to Maya. "Lt. Ibuki, activate the dummy plug system."

This order surprised Maya, and she really didn't want to do this, as she had great doubts. "But Sir! The system hasn't been tested yet! And it can become gravely instable!"

"I haven't asked you for your opinon, Lieutenant," Gendo interrupted her coldly. For him, it was easier to give orders than to do it himself. It created a distance that he, even though he didn't know, needed to distance himself from the consequences.

"Y-yes Sir..." _Please, don't let me make a grave error... _

"Urg!" Shinji grunted, when his EVA came to a sudden stop, the light inside the plug turning from white to red. It was followed by a sharp pain in his head, signalling that the connection to the EVA was forcibly cut, and he had no longer any control over it. "What the hell?" pulling at the controls, he achived nothing. "What's going on?" He had no desire to end as Angel-food.

The face of his father appeared on the communication screen. "You have again proven useless. Control of the Evangelion is therefore revoked and the auto-pilot will do the job." That said, his face disappeared.

To his horror, his father hadn't lied, when the Evangelion suddenly jerked up, turning around to face the advancing Trident. It was clear to him, what would happen now. "Gods, no! This can't be happening!"

_**What do you plan now, Lilum? **_Bardiel wondered, when suddenly the perversion turned around, running towards him. _**My reconnissance showed me you wouldn't attack one of your own, so you...**_

**-CLANNNG-**

Bardiel was ripped out of his observations, when the Evangelion frontally attacked his current hull. _**What? My observations... **_His whole tactic was based on the fact that surely they wouldn't attack him while he held a hostage. But right then his formed whips were brutally ripped out by the EVA, which more and more seemed to get out of control.

"The Evangeilon is reacting badly to the dummy plug! It starts to go into a battle rage!" Maya called, looking in worry at the screens. This auto-pilot had a really bad effect on the EVA, as if turning Dr. Jackell into Mr. Hyde.

"It is fulfilling its purpose," was the only thing Gendo said, watching the beginning carnage.

_He will understand that it had to be done, _Gendo again thought. It was a little as if he had to repeat it so that he could believe it. It reassured him that everything was in control and was all right.

**-BLAARNNNG-**

Before Bardiel could react, his distance weapons were trashed by pure rage. The Evangelion had deepened itself into bloodthirst by now. The only thing it wanted was to KILL. With sheer brutalitiy it grabbed the attack-arms of the Trident and ripped them out of their sockets.

**-KRRTSSCCHHH-**

"No! NO!" Shinji screamed desperately, seeing in total helplessness how Unit-01 started to brutally beat on the Trident. "Stop it!" His cries remained unheared, despite everyone on the bridge hearing them. And the horror was complete for him when he saw the screaming Mana on the comm-screen, crying that she wanted out of there, sparks raining on her. This horror conjured dark thoughts from the depths of his mind.

**-CRAAASHHH-**

He started to hyerventilate, seeing the EVA ripping Trident apart bit-for-bit. _"Leave!"_Memories he had thought forgotten came up. Things he had thought he had gotten over._"I can't stand your sight any longer." _The feeling of pure helplessness, his father having total control over him. A barely healed wound brutally ripped open. _"I do not have a use for you." _This act of brutally forcing him into total helplessness.

**-WANNNGGGG-**

"Gods...!" He jerked in helpless reaction at the controls. He had went on with his life, a simple, normal life. How should he have known that he hadn't been able to fully banish the demons of his past? _"The spare has proven useless." _He had been in a lot of battles in EVA, but this was the first time he was totally helpless, while a friend was about to die. And the worst, he still felt that it was at his hands. This brutal mix was enough to rip open the scars on his soul, transforming them into bleeding wounds.

"YOU CAN'T DO THAT! STOP!"

The bridge crew also felt helpless. They had no choice but to obey, and hearing his cries of total terror was very hard for them. Makoto and Shigeru had their eyes cast down, literally praying in their helplessness that a wonder would happen, while Maya was so horrified of what happened, that she had to hold down the bile. Ritsuko had the decency to look down. She had feared that something like this would happen. Maybe Gendo had aimed for it? Kozo was brutally reminded how cold Gendo had become, to totally ruin a young man's life like this. And Misato couldn't watch it any longer. She also didn't care any longer for her image of the tough officer, while she was held by Ryoji. She lived together with Shinji, so this tore at her heart.

**-KRAAIIIIKK-K-K-**

Shinji's mind was flooded by fear and terror, when the EVA suddenly ripped off the cockpit of the collapsing, half-destroyed Trident, obviously intending to crush it like a soda can, and Mana with it. His eyes widened in pure terror when seeing what was about to happen.

"No... I'M NO MURDERER!... NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" he screamed in pure desperation.

**-Schlaaaaaackkk-k-k--k-**

All of a sudden the EVA went silent, the red light around him flickered, then went out, and the normal lighting again went on, accompanied by the silent hum of the Evangelion. "W-what...?"

"What happened?" Gendo commanded, when all of a sudden the screens showing the operation of the dummy plug went into static. He had calculated in many things, but nothing like this, whatever it was. It made him nervous.

This sudden change shook the bridge crew out of their silence, at at once they tried to determine what had happened. Looking at the diagnostics sceen for Unit-01, Maya's eyes widened. "Unit-01 had shot very high voltage through the dummy plug core, reducing it to molten slag. The plug resetted and is back to pilot control." She didn't want to ask how, but their prayers had been heared and the worst stopped at the last second.

It seemed that Gendo hadn't expected this at all, losing some of his strict control when hearing these news. "Vice-Commander Fuyutsuki, take over for me." Then without saying anything further, Gendo left the bridge, leaving behind a bewildered bridge crew. They wondered what had just happened, with the Commander almost leaving the bridge in a hurry.

Kozo Fuyutsuki knew too well. The destruction of the dummy plug was a clear message to Gendo. He knew from who. And the message was clear, she had been very angry, the total melting down of the dummy core couldn't be explained otherwise. And looking after the retreating Gendo, he knew that _he_ knew as well, but surely would find some way to convince himself that Yui hadn't meant it like this. But right now, Gendo was disturbed enough that he needed to be alone. He was distracted when Shinji's voice, almost a whisper, came over the comm.

"I...oh gods Mana...what have I done...?" On the screen they saw Unit-01 despoiting the severed cockpit on a hill, then collapsing beside it like a sack of potatoes. Thene there was silence from Shinji, the internal cameras and the bio-readers damaged, so they had no idea how he fared. Only one thing was clear.

"His synch-ratio has dropped to zero!" Maya called in worry.

"Major Katsuragi. Order the other units, once they are on the surface, to protect Unit-01," Fuyutsuki ordered, having a feeling that this wasn't over yet. "We have no idea if the Angel will start another attack." And silently he added that unlike Gendo, he did care for the survival of their pilots.

* * *

_...meanwhile outside..._

Kensuke didn't care that he had wet himself. He had been given any excuse to do so. Being only a stone-throw away from what had just happened had been enough for him. Seeing the Trident mutating, Unit-01 ripping it apart, and then the severed cockpit being dropped almost on his head, before the EVA had collapsed beside the hill he was on. He wasn't embarrassed that he had pissed into his pants after all this happening.

And right then he made a vow. "Never again! Never again any filming even remotely close to a battle!" He didn't bother to get up, watching the remaining four EVA's rising to the surface.

"Shit, they didn't lie when they said it's a mess!" Toji gasped, when seeing the wreck of the Trident, Unit-01 lying a little further way on the ground, unmoving.

"Shinji..." Rei gasped in worry when seeing the unmoving Unit-01. Their orders were to protect him while they had to watch out for possible further attacks by the Angel. She wanted to directly protect him, but she had no time.

"There!" Asuka cried, when seeing a huge cloud of black smoke escaping out of the wrecked Trident, all the biological growth disappearing into it. She still felt far from fully confident, but she was determined to kick this Angel's ass. Not for fame, but because this Angel was the enemy who wanted to kill them all.

Bardiel cursed. He had observed the Lilim of that city for quite some time, had tried to find the weakness that would enable him to not only defeat them in combat, but also to show them their inferiority compared to his kind. The others apart from Matarael had waltzed in, he had planned. And then he thought he had found the weakness, that they would never endanger one of their own. That was why he had taken over this machine.

But obviously he had miscalculated. _**You might have foiled this plan of mine, but unlike Iruel I don't put all my eggs into one basket and bonded myself to this machine-host. **_So he willed his true self to leave the machine that had served as his host.

He disliked having to attack them in his true self, but on the other hand, they would get some more nasty surprises this way. _**The last word isn't spoken yet, Lilim. **_He thought, while starting to re-form. He would have more surprises for them

"Verdammt, how can we attack a cloud of smoke?" Asuka wondered, feeling nervous. In all the past battles, her super-ego had been a crutch for her. Now without it, she hoped she could still manage without too much trouble.

"Careful, it is forming something," Misato warned them over the comm. She hadn't fully emotionally recovered from what had happened before, but no one would fault her for it. "Keep it away from Shinji at all costs. He is totally helpless right now."

_**"Ha ha ha ha!"**_

They all looked up when they heared deep laughter from the cloud, and suddenly it dissipated, showing them what had formed inside it. It was...a dragon! A huge dragon as envisioned in middle-age stories. It was covered in dark green scales, had two huge, leathery wings and a pair of horns over its red eyes. The dragon Bardiel looked down at them._** "Attack me, if you can," **_he mocked in his deep voice.

Toji was the first to do exactly this, firing off his gun. But it had zero effect, the AT-field simply deflecting the weapon fire. It seemed the dragon felt that now was time for payback, a swooped down, ignoring the weapon fire, breathing fire against Unit-03. But it wasn't normal fire, it burned green. Toji just managed to get out of the way, the ground where he had stood molten to glass.

But already the dragon swooped down for another attack run.

This time they were warned, discarding their distance weapons and arming their direct combat gear. And Hikari had already been armed with a battle axe from the beginning. She felt angry at this Angel. Her friends were hurt because of it. "YAAAH!" she screamed, when Unit-04 jumped, her axe cleanly chopping off the head and neck of the dragon.

But to their horror, it didn't die. The cut-off head just turned into black goo, and the headless dragon ascended back into the sky, and in seconds, from the stump of the one head, two new ones grew, both laughing. _**"Surprise!"**_ Then it attacked again.

The attack came too fast for Rei, and she screamed when this strange fire penetrated her field, hitting her left arm. "AHHH!" To the horror of the others, the left arm started to partially melt.

"We have to jettison the arm!" Ritsuko called in the command centre, seeing that the left arm of Unit-00 was essentially ruined.

"You know what this will do to her?" Misato shouted to her, stressed. She knew that it would feel for Rei as if her real arm was cut off.

"Yes!" Ritsuko also was stressed. "But either that, or she will be in constant pain as if her arm is melting away. Better it be fast over for her."

Misato knew that it was a choice between bad and worse, but Rei would be hurt nonetheless. Finally she decided that maybe doing it now would be more of a mercy. "Jettison the arm!"

"AAHHHHHHHH!" Rei screamed in pain when the ruined arm was seperated from her EVA. The pain was unbelieveable, but she bit her teeth together, and willed herself not to faint and fight on, even if only with one arm. Her logical mind right now had to make space for something else. She had a score to settle.

Hikari meanwhile had hacked off another head, only to have it replaced with two more, making this now three heads. "This is useless!" she cried, evading another attack from the now three heads. "It's like a hydra! For every head we cut off, two grow in its place!"

"Try to get it on the ground!" Misato told them. "We found his core, it's inside the chest!"

"Yeah, but I fear he has something against us cutting it out!" Toji gasped, barely diving under some flames. "How can we get him?"

"Leave that to me!" Asuka, called, then suddenly started running towards the dragon, who again started to swoop down for another attack. The dragon did attack her, but she ejected her cable, rolling under the attack, jumping up when just after it, grabbing its tail, making it crash to the ground.

_**"I'm the strongest here!"**_ Bardiel roared, while trying to get up again. He was angry that they dared to do this to him. It seemed he would have to teach them another lesson once he was free.

"Yes, but together we are stronger!" Hikari called over he speaker, while Units 03 and 04 almost dogpiled the dragon. Hikari used the entire EVA to put weight on the necks so that it couldn't attack them with fire, while Toji held the left, Asuka the right hind leg.

_**URGH!**_ Bardiel suddenly felt a knife in his guts.

Rei had anger in her eyes, and prog knife in the remaining hand of her EVA, stabbed Bardiel into the chest like mad to vent her anger. This venting of anger was something new to her, and it scared her a little. But then she remembered what to do, and slashed the knife to rip open his chest.

_**"AAAARRRGHH!"**_ Bardiel screamed when Unit-00 rammed its fist into the huge wound, grabbing his core. He roared in pain, but it was to no avail as the EVA finally ripped out the core, crushing it between its fingers.

_**"-hurghh-...How...?"**_were Bardiel's last words, before darkness engulfed him. His last thought about how this little miscalculation had cost him his life.

The pilots prepared for a big explosion as usual, but nothing like that happened. The dragon just melted down to black goo, leaving behind a huge puddle of a tar-like substance that behaved just like it when sticking on the Evangelions. Saying nothing, they looked around, again spotting the downed Unit-01.

A battle they could win. But they had no idea what to do now.

* * *

_...NERV Hospital, shortly later..._

"We spend far too much time here recently," Misato mostly said to herself.

Right now she and the pilots were waiting for the doctor to tell them what Shinji's condition was. The way Unit-01 had shut down, Shinji not responding to calls and that they had to carry him out of the entry plug while he was unresponsive, this all had worried them. Even Asuka, who wasn't close to Shinji (despite living in the same apartment, until recently she had always tried to not get involved into his matters), was waiting for news. What had happened today was worse enough to worry even her.

Why the Commander, after the coldness he had just demonstrated, hadn't ordered to throw Shinji, despite his condition, into a cell, was also a mystery. It wasn't like Commander Ikari to simply ignore Shinji's direct refusal of his orders.

The pilots hadn't bothered with changing, standing there in their plugsuits. The LCL had dried by now, and they knew that there would be hell to pay later, when they would try to get it out of their hair. But right now they didn't care about that.

A least Mana had come out of all this without any serious injuries. Sure, she had quite a number of bruises and surface injuries after how roughly Unit-01 had treated the cockpit before Shinji had regained control at the last second, and was ordered to stay in bed for now -not that she right now was in any shape to go against this order-, but it could have been much worse. Trident was in a much worse condition than her with Major Hanson being close to a stroke. After he had been assured that Mana would be all right, he had screamed that it would take a month to fully repair Trident, with him being close to tears. It was close to a wonder that Mana had come out of this wreck without really serious injuries.

Rituko right now had far too much to do, so she had delegated the job of checking him to someone else. Not that anyone could fault her for it. She had a seriously damaged Trident, molten slag that had once been a dummy plug core and a huge mess to clean up on her desk. So it really wasn't a wonder that she had far more important things on her agenda right now. And Mr. Kaji had to leave after this disaster for some time. Misato knew that after these catastrophic events, he would need to get into contact with his true employers and report to them.

Finally, the doctor arrived.

"How is he?" Misato asked as the first.

"Well, physically he actually is healthy, apart from the slight symptoms of stress, which are no wonder. However, his mind is a different matter. I'm no expert in psychology, have only taken the basic courses. As far as I can see now, he had went into a state of shock. I can only speculate that the recent events are the cause, but not the root of the problem," the young doctor told them.

"What do you mean with that?" Misato wanted to know. Shinji had appeared so stable to her, so this came all of a sudden.

"While we examined him, he again became responsive, although now he had entered a very stong depression, and from the few bits we heared, it seems that the barely avoided death of the other pilot isn't the only thing that adds to his current state. Some sort of issues are really weighting on him... We will need a specialist in psychology to make more sense of it."

"Can we see him?" Rei asked, hoping that maybe she could help Shinji in some way. And inside her, anger at the Commander burned. She had been told what had happened, and couldn't believe how she could have trusted this man in the past. He had done this to Shinji. She would never forgive Gendo Ikari for this. The last bit of trust was gone. She would follow his orders, but nothing more.

"Right now that would be useless. We gave him a strong sleeping agent so that his system will have time to settle down," the doctor shot down her hopes. "I will keep you informed, Major." He then left them alone.

"What is wrong with Shinji-kun?" Rei wondered aloud. Her worry over him had just doubled. She was feeling... helpless. Which in return felt horrible for her.

Silence greeted her question, until Misato whispered in experience, "...Some old demons Shinji thought he had overcome have returned with a vengeance."

And Misato also felt herself starting to deeply despise the Commander. First ordering Shinji to attack Trident, denying him the option of a strategic retreat, and then this unbeliveable action with the auto-pilot. And he hadn't cared what this did to the boy.

And right now Misato understood all of Shinji's hatred of his father.

_**to be continued...**_

_**Next Episode:**_

_**"Learning to cope"**_


	25. Learning to Cope

I will say these things in advance: I have absolutely no rights at NGE, but you should have already known that.

The story itself is basically a re-telling of the original storyline, but twisted into my way. While at the beginning there seem to be only few divigances, it will become more with each episode. The people, their motivations and the backgrounds are while holding true to the basic layout, changed at my imagination in many details, so canon-purists now are allowed to flame me.

NOTE: I hate both, the ending of the TV series, and how End of Evangelion turned out. So don't expect any of those outcomes.

This is Shinji/Rei. This one had been VERY diffcult for me to write, because again there are psychological scenes. I hope I didn't screw these up too bad...

After you've read the chapter **Please Review!** It is frustrating for me to see so little resonance to the creative work I do, despite the high number of readers. Please tell me your opinion. I promise to answer every review I get.

* * *

**Chapter 24: Learning to cope**

"We are seriously disappointed with you, Commander Ikari! Your auto-pilot almost destroyed the Trident and would have killed our pilot if not for this malfunction! And to top it off you threatened an army officer. Do you have anything, other than your listing of the events, to say in your defense?"

Gendo wasn't intimidated. He should have known that something like this would happen. The army had been really angry about the damage done to Trident, and of course Hanson had reported every detail of the fiasco, including him being threatened with death. So they had ordered him to Tokyo-2 to explain to them in person the reasons and better give them an good excuse. And it seemed that they didn't like what he had told them.

But he knew they couldn't do anything to him. The Angel posessing Trident was a good enough excuse for the UN, and they could never prove that he had done this on purpose just to try and get rid of the army presence in Tokyo-3, not that this had been his intention. Sure, they had accused him of exactly this, but he had easily dismissed the whole thing as bias.

"I have nothing to add. The situation was clear, and demanded fast acting. There is nothing more to it." He had better things to do than to answer to these uniformed monkeys, they were horribly wasting his time, especially now, with things getting faster into motion and the day coming closer, where he would see her again.

He had by now convinced himself that Yui hadn't destroyed the dummy plug out of anger. He had convinced himself that it had to be a malfunction of any other kind in the Evangelion. For him, Yui disagreeing with his actions was impossible. Otherwise it would destoy the very basis of him going on with living, as thin as it was. His worldview of that had to stay intact.

Meanwhile the generals seemed to have realised that they wouldn't get anymore answers from this side. "You are dismissed, Ikari. Pray that you won't have to appear before us again." The three generals watched Gendo leaving, and only when they were sure that he was out of the building, a wooden door opened. "What do you think, Mr. Kaji?" one of the three generals asked.

Ryoji, who had listened to the whole exchange, shugged. These three high-ups were of the group of the few who knew of his true assignment, so he had to report to them. "Ikari is as cold as a fish. I was there, he didn't care at all if Trident was reduced to scrap and the pilot killed. He hadn't specifically gunned for it, but it would have been to his advantage. And my investigations so far show, that Ikari plans something big, although what exactly is still unknown to me. Ikari is capable of everything, this man has no scruples."

"We are still concerned that you brought Major Katsuragi into your investigations. Despite you vouching for her, we are still unsure if your decision had been wise," one general said in doubt. Depite him ressuring them that Misato was no danger, the generals had their doubt. A high-up of NERV, that was suspicious.

"She is fully truthworthy. I hold my hand into the fire for it," Ryoji said confident. By now he felt that Misato was sincere and wouldn't betray him. All these secrets were disturbing her, too, and she wanted answers. And it felt good that he no longer had to keep things from her.

"If you are wrong, we make you responsible for the consequences. For now return to Tokyo-3. NERV and SEELE otherwise will become suspicious where you could be," one of the generals ordered, dismissing him.

"Yes, Sir..." Ryoji knew that basically all his superiors were people he wouldn't want to share a barbeque with. Although these army generals were the least worse of the lot. At least they had a legitime position of power, while Ikari and SEELE... Trying to get away from this train of thoughts, Ryoji hurried to get out of the building.

Misato right now needed someone she could count on, since after what had happened to Shinji she was really distressed. What the Angel had done was one thing, since they were the enemy anyway. But what the Commander had done to Shinji was simply disgusting.

He knew he should keep his job professional, and his opinion out of his work, but he couldn't help but to despise that man.

* * *

_...two days later, class 2-A..._

It could have been a normal day in class 2-A, if not for the fact that something was gravely wrong. Everyone felt it, and saw the evidence when seeing three empty seats, one from a girl that would never come late, unless sick. So everyone knew that something must have happened, something bad. And in hushed whispers, they speculated what it could have been.

"It's so empty with these three not here... Leave it to an Angel and Shinji's old man to royally fuck up their lives," Toji commented, looking to the empty seats of Shinji, Rei and Mana. He hadn't believed Shinji some weeks ago when he had said that his father was seeing him just as a resource. After what happened some days ago, he DID believe him. Only a heart of stone could do this.

Right now he, Hikari, Kensuke and Mayumi were talking about the three missing friends. Asuka was sitting beside them. She was uncomfortable with actually joining them, as she felt she was intruding. Not even Hikari's encouragement could change it. She needed more time.

"H-how are they? From what you told me, they must be really bad off," Mayumi asked carefully. She was really concerned about her friends. She hadn't seen any of the results of the battle, but what she had been told was enough for her to fear the worst. She again felt ashamed that she was forced to report all this.

"I met Mana yesterday. It's not that bad for her. She's out of the bed and the injuries aren't bad, although she has to use a crutch for a while. She was really scared... Guess she will need some time before she will again enter a cockpit," Hikari told her. It was still a wonder that Mana had come out of this without anything worse. "Shinji and Rei...that's a different matter."

Finally Asuka couldn't keep silent anymore. "Alright, what's wrong with Ayanami? I didn't try to pry, so what's going on with her? She wasn't injured in the battle."

Hikari could only shake her head over so much ignorance. But that was Asuka, socially inept and rough at the edges. "Asuka... Do you have an idea in what state Shinji is?"

Asuka thought for a little. "He's become pretty much depression itself and yet insists that he has to cope with it himself?"

"Worse, he lets whatever is hurting him eat him up from within. He doesn't want help from his friends because he doesn't want to burden us with it... And him being unable to actually get clear with whatever is depressing him, depresses him even more." Hikari looked into the group. "And he has no idea how much he is hurting Rei with it."

"Huh? Last I saw her, she looked pretty much her usual self, despite using most of the day to stay at his side," Toji wondered, scratching his head.

Hikari gave him a smack on the back of his head. "Gods, sometimes you are really unobservant! She TRIES to look normal, but I can see in her eyes that this is hurting her very, very much! To see him like this and having no idea what she could do to help him starts to wear her down... She really loves him to skip everything else just to be there for him, but I fear this will eat up her inner stength."

"She must feel like Sysiphus. Unable to help in any way. After what I saw... I wonder who is worse off, Shinji or Rei," Kensuke wondered.

"I guess this is one of these things Shinji warned us about when we started piloting. He said that this is no game. Now I understand what he means. I thought he meant when an Angel attacks. But he meant what it would do to us in there..." Toji thought aloud, pointing to his head.

"How is Misato taking the whole thing? I mean, she was forced to watch first hand..." Kensuke asked. Of course he had watched, too. Something he would want to forget as soon as possible. He had been almost squished, had pissed himself and aftwards had been iterrogated by NERV security for two long hours before Misato had managed to get him out of there. No, nothing to be proud of.

To their surprise, it was Asuka who answered. Before her...'accident'... she wouldn't have even graced Kensuke with an answer. "Bad... She comes home late and has nightmares. Seeing him like this really gets to her." And finally she had to get it out. "What kind of sick asshole is the Commander to do this? Verdammt, he could have waited for us to get up to subdue that thing. But no, he had to totally screw it up with that stupid auto-pilot! Gott noch mal, what was he thinking?"

No one said anything. Hikari and Toji were glad that their fathers were much better persons than Gendo Ikari, the little they had seen and heared of him had been enough to pity Shinji, while Kensuke remembered the horror-stories his father had told him about stone-face Ikari. Mayumi knew that she shouldn't judge a man from things she had heared from others. But after the things she had been told, she really was tempted to accept it as the truth.

"I think only he himself can tell us why he has done this..." Mayumi tried to reason. "We can't know...what goes on in other people's heads. Some are nasty simply because they can, others because they think it's alright to do so." The small look of pain that crept into her features was answer enough that she spoke from experience.

Asuka looked away, she didn't want to think about that right now. And she didn't want the others to see her blushing a little when being remembered of her behaviour. The fruit of realisation and wisdom came with a price, and she felt uncomfortable when understanding how others felt. Being literally forced to do so with no way back brought up emotions of shame and embarrassment over how she had acted. Even if it hadn't been the Devil, he still had given her the worst punishment: becoming much more aware of the people around herself, and the effect her actions had on them.

_Reiß dich zusammen! Ich werde diesem rauchenden Amani-Affen zeigen daß ich mich bessern kann! _(Pull yourself together! I will show this smoking Amani-monkey that I can become a better person!) she tried to reassure herself. If she wouldn't feel so lonely right now...

Finally the teacher entered and the calls went through with the routine. But they had no trouble to hear that Hikari barked her commands only half-hearted. And if Hikari Horaki felt bad enough that she wasn't 100 percent in her duty, then something had to be really wrong.

* * *

_...later that day..._

Rei felt as if something was about to crush her, while walking down the corridor of the hospital wing to the elevators, so that she could get something to eat, since her stomach protested loudly. The last days had been hard on her.

They hadn't dared to release Shinji, since they feared what he could do to himself in his serious state of depression, feeling that it was better for him being close to fast help. Shinji was... Rei had no words to describe it. He wasn't like himself, had retreated inwards and was plagued by what could be strong self-doubts. The psychatrists had made a diagnosis even she hadn't understood (and that meant something), but he had blocked every single of their attempts to get to the root of the problem.

She had decided to stay at his side as long as possible for the day, even skipped school to do so. But it was heart-breaking. Shinji denied even her, his girlfriend, entrance to his heart, telling her that he didn't want to burden her with it, that she would be better off not to constantly worry over him, since that wasn't worth it. She had tried to get closer to him, make him share what was burdening him, but she had little experience with this, matters of a injured heart, and had thus failed miserably.

She would stay at his side, but she also felt her heart slowly crumbling. Shinji's condition made her miserable as well. She had experienced sadness before, but this... dark pit of despair that she felt falling into was scaring her to no end. The pain in her heart to see her strong Shinji (she didn't notice that she had become so possessive of him) wither away in this soul-pain was like a dagger rammed into her very being.

_Shinji... Why do you hurt me? _Rei felt in her heart that Shinji didn't want to hurt her. That he simply wasn't aware of it. But it was little consolence.

Arriving at the elevator, she pushed the button for the level with the mess hall. She stood there in silence, while the cab was on its way. With all the inner pain, it was a wonder that up to now she was able to hold back the tears. She looked up when someone else entered the elevator, and when she saw who it was, she felt a burning flame of anger flaring up.

It was Commander Ikari.

Outwards she stayed passive, but the longer the silence lasted, the more angry she felt. Finally she broke the silence. "Why?" she asked him directly.

Gendo knew exactly what she was talking about. But he actually hadn't expected her asking him. Especially in such a direct way. "Because it had to be done. The target had to be destroyed, everything else was irrelevant."

Rei felt herself getting even angrier, the flames of anger turning hot-white, and while she was scared at how brightly this fire burned inside herself, it felt... justified. "And the pilot?" she asked further, her voice devoid of emotion.

"The pilot had his chance and disobeyed. So he alone is responsible for what happened." Gendo had fallen into this easy solution, that the whole incident was simply the result of Shinji disobeying. Moving the guilt to some else was very effective to dissipate any inner doubts he had.

Suddenly Rei turned around, the pale skin of her face an angry red from all the blood shooting into it, her eyes becoming dangerous slits...

**-WHAM-**

Gendo had no idea what exactly had happened, but all of a sudden Rei's right fist made direct and hard contact with his face, and thanks to her enhanced strength it REALLY hurt a lot, while his glasses were cleanly knocked off his face, cluttering to the floor.

Rei hadn't cared that this was the Commander, her superior, that this could have dire consequences. For her this was right now just the man who had hurt the boy she loved in the worst ways. She simply had to vent her anger, and the last comment had been too much for her. She...she gave a fuck on the consequences right now, maybe she would regret it later, but it felt too good that she finally had gotten this out of her system, emotion ruling over her logical mind.

"You have hurt Shinji in the worst way possible. I will follow your orders, but nothing more. I do not feel any personal loyality to you any longer...Commander," she told him in a low voice, while tears of anger glistered in her eyes. Seconds later the doors opened, and she left, before she could do anything further.

Gendo looked after her, feeling the left side of his face hurting. Picking up his glasses after the doors had closed, he had to admit that he had misjudged the pace of Rei's development. On the outside and inside she had changed so much, that essentially she had nothing any longer in common with the empty shell named Rei he had ordered to be created for the scenario. His son had gained so much influence over her, that he had managed... to actually transform her into a real person.

He didn't like this in the slightest. Rei was by now really rebellious. She had become so problematic... he even considered replacing her and accepting the loss of one pilot, even two, now that they had three more pilots.

However, actively disposing of her was out of question. It would create far too much attention. No, he would wait until an Angel would really injure her, which could be arranged by sending her out against all odds on a suicide trip, and ordering Dr. Akagi to let her die of her injuries if needed.

The second Rei was becomming too much of a trouble, so when the chance would come, the third, as dumb as a bread, would be activated.

* * *

_...at the evening..._

_Gods, I really didn't want to re-live today... _Misato silently groaned, while sitting at the kitchen table, almost literally burning holes into her brain while thinking about way how to stop things from becoming even worse, since today had been especially bad.

Shinji clearly was unable to cope with whatever was weighting on him, but he had blocked any attempt from them to get him talk about it, share his pain with them. He felt he had to solve the problem on his own. Misato could only shake her head. Shinji obviously didn't want to unload his problems on them, but instead he made it worse for all of them.

Today had been the worst sign of it. She had seen Rei with tears in her eyes. Rei of all people! Tears meant that she had to be really emotionally distressed, sad and desperate. And it took much of that to get this reaction from the girl with a superb emotional control. She knew Shinji would never intentionally hurt Rei, but right now he was pulling her down together with himself into the pit of depression.

_That's one of these days where I wish I could still drink myself silly..._

Somehow they had to get Shinji to open up, but she had no clue how to do that. He would have to do so on his own, they couldn't force him to do so. And while they knew his general backstory, he had always shyed away from telling them any details about his past. She had thought that maybe Shinji simply was a very private person. But now she became more convinced that he had simply tried to burry several things of his past so that he could go on.

Not that she could fault him for it, she had done the same thing, but there was always the danger that with bad luck this could return to haunt you some day. It had happened to him, and Misato knew that it could also happen to her. To understand what was troubling him, they would need to understand his past...

And suddenly Misato remembered exactly who could help them. If someone could help Shinji, it was him, the man who had been much more a father to him, than his real father had ever been.

His uncle Kaldor Ikari.

* * *

_...the next day..._

_Damn it, why does the train have to run late today of all days? _Misato cursed, while waiting at the train station for the first morning train from Tokyo-2 to arrive. Shinji's uncle had sounded very concerned when she had told him the situation over the phone. Only the lack of a car and the fact the the first train would run in the morning had stopped him from arriving earlier. She had never met him, so she was curios what kind of man he was.

Well, he wouldn't have much diffculties to find her. She was the only person waiting in the train station right now, and she had said she would wait there for him. Ritsuko had told her that she was neglecting her work over this, only to be told 'what work?', since right now, she hadn't much to do.

Finally the arrival of the train was announced.

Some minutes later, she waited for the man to appear with the train in the station. There weren't many passengers, as Tokyo-3 had somewhat become a no-go for anyone who didn't really need to come into the city. It wouldn't be too difficult for him to find her, going after the description she had given him.

"Major Katsuragi?"

Misato looked to the source of the voice, and stopped when she saw the man. Or better, when she had to look up to see his face. With her 1.63 meters height her face was only on level with his chest. That man was, compared to the normal japanese men, a giant with a height of at least 2 meters. He seemed to be in his late thirties but she guessed that many woman would find him to be a good catch. And he didn't fulfill the clichè of the man in a business suit, instead dressing in jeans and shirt, a travelling bag hanging from his shoulder.

Finally she noticed how rude it was to stare at him. "Sorry... Yes, it's me."

Kaldor waved it off. "No, most are first awed by my hight... I... I have come as fast as I could, after what you told me, I feared that something like this could happen. I should have been more insitant in that matter."

Misato felt that despite having such a huge frame, Kaldor Ikari was a very peaceful and compassionate person. "We can talk on the way. I only hope you can help him."

On the way Misato filled him in on everything, since she hadn't had the time to tell him everything on the phone yesterday. She had no trouble to see his mood getting sour when telling him exactly why Shinji had retreated into himself. And when she was done, Kaldor had to visibly restrain himself. "This pig Gendo... Hadn't he hurt him enough already?"

"You don't seem to have a high opinion of his father," Misato remarked.

"The only thing he will get from me is my fist into his ugly face. Should have done so years ago," Kaldor growled, before getting himself back under control. "Sorry... Shinji is like my own son for me. I was very close to my sister Yui, his mother, and I see it also as my duty to her to give Shinji the best life possible."

Misato shook her head. "He had been always so vague about his past. We only know the general story, but he never wanted to go into detail."

Kaldor sighed. "It's what I feared. See, Shinji hates his father with a passion, but at the same time he is, in a way, afraid of him. I did manage to make him lose most of this fear, encouraging him to show his old man that he wouldn't stand in his shadow. I helped him to understand that he is someone, that he is not to be measured at what others think of him. That no one controls him."

"Sounds like he was a mental wreck," Misato remarked.

"That's putting it mildly. He was a child troubled by immense self-doubts, feeling worthless, unloved, always in fear of being at the whims of his father. The last was the worst. And now his bastard father has re-opened this wound..." Kaldor shook his head. "It had cost me years to make Shinji the confident young man you've seen."

Kaldor telling her all this finally showed her how messed up Shinji's early years really had been. No wonder he had never wanted to speak about it."I start to understand why he had went into shock..."

"Let me tell you of when I started to help him... It was this fateful day..."

_-flashback_

_Kaldor was worried. Today had been Shinji's ninth birthday, but the son of his sister seemed to have gone into a really bad depression since returning from wherever he had been. Kaldor knew that Shinji was a very fragile child, first the loss of his mother and and his father leaving him so cold-heartedly had really hurt the young boy. He had tried to help Shinji, make him feel better, encourage him, but up to now the young boy had been very reclusive, letting no one into the depths of his feelings._

_Finally he found it was enough, and walked up the stairs to Shinji's room. He had no chance to knock on the door, when hearing something from within. It was crying. Shinji was crying. Pulling the door open, he was confronted with the heart-breaking sight of Shinji sitting on his bed, crying, looking as if the whole world had turned against him._

_"Shinji...?" Concerned, Kaldor rushed to his side, but stopped when Yui's son looked to him. His eyes had become red from crying, but even stronger was the look of being lost, that he gave him. "What happened?"_

_Shinji at first said nothing, but then he finally said between the sobs, "Was at...mom's grave. Father had been there... Ignored me... It was so cold..."_

_For a second Kaldor was tempted to find Gendo to give him a piece of his mind, preferredly with his fists. Hadn't the child already suffered enough under his emotional cruelity? But that was fast shoved aside while he tried to console Shinji to calm him down._

_Shinji was far from done, and it seemed that this day had been the breaking point, and he started pour out his heart to his uncle. I hurt so much inside himself now, he told him. All his fears, him feeling so little, so useless. His uncle had known some of it. But some things he had never told him... until now._

_Kaldor cursed. All these years he had tried to give Shinji a good and normal life. But the boy had always been insecure, angstly and withdrawn. And listening to him right now, he finally had found the root of all his problems: Gendo's actions had caused Shinji to believe that it was him who had made his father leave, wondering what he had done wrong that this happened. Shinji was afraid of his father, yet wanted to be acknowledged by him. He was too young to really understand all this._

Not any longer... I will not let Gendo ruin his son completely by letting him destroy himself in self-doubts, _Kaldor decided right at that moment, while holding Shinji, who finally had calmed down. He would tell him what had really happened, that there was nothing to be afraid of, nothing to blame himself, and he would tell him of the true character of his father. Of course he would have to be careful, use words a nine-year old would understand._

_He wouldn't let him down. And hopefully he would be able to slowly remove all these emotional after-effects, finally giving Shinji the peace he deserved._

_Yui would want it this way._

_-back in the present-_

"...I underestimated how deep these wounds had been. When I later tried to reach him, he said that he wanted to forget all of it, wanted to go on and live his life. I should have been more insistant on him not pushing it aside but really confront the issue. Sure, he had begun a normal life, but I had a bad feeling," Kaldor said with regret.

"I don't blame you. Reaching a teenage boy can be damn difficult. I now understand better what happened to him. Hopefully we can now help him." While she said this, Misato forced herself to concentrate on the road. It had been really a sad story.

Kaldor said nothing, but it was clear that he nonetheless blamed himself, feeling that he had partly failed in raising Shinji. Finally he shook himself out of it. "I think he knows that his fears have no real basis, but emotional things hardly listen to logic..."

"I hope he will understand that we are here for him..."

* * *

_...hospital wing, a little later..._

Getting a visitor pass was quite easy when you were the head of security, so there were no problems for Misato to walk with Kaldor down the corridor to the room where Shinji was. She knew that Rei was there, and that was a good thing. Her presence would help greatly in the hard task they had ahead of themselves.

There was indeed Rei; but sitting in a chair outside of Shinji's room, looking miserable. Obviously she had just again experienced another rejection in her attempts to get Shinji share his pain with her. And for Rei, who had much emotional control, and wasn't really that knowledgeable concerning emotions, the look of defeat was crushing.

Looking up when she heared someone coming, she saw Misato and this...this huge man approaching her. She wondered who he was, getting up she decided to wait for Misato to introduce him to her.

"Rei, this is Kaldor Ikari, Shinji's uncle," Misato told Rei once they had reached her.

Kaldor's worries were temporarily unimportant, while concentrating on Rei. Of course Shinji had told him over the phone about Rei. But to meet her in person was something different. He had to admit, her hair and eye color were unusual, but not in a bad way. But her very pale skin concerned him a bit; it made her look somewhat sickly.

"You must be the Rei Shinji told me so much about. He had only good things to tell about you. It's good to finally meet you," he greeted her with a kind voice and was a little amused when seeing a slight red tint in Rei's face.

But then Rei's expression returned to sadness. "Shinji does worry me. Why is he rejecting me? I do want to help him."

Kaldor had no trouble seeing that only her great emotional control stopped the girl from bursting into tears. It seemed that he had arrived at the last second. "He isn't intentionally hurting you. He's confused, knows that his fears are irrational, yet he is unable to come to terms with that. He wants to protect you from it and doesn't notice that he's hurting you. He still loves you very much," he tried to calm her down and reassure her.

It did have the desired effect that she seemed to regain some of her control, so he continued, "He needs our help... Only that we have to force him to accept it. He is really brave, but bravery can become foolishness when there is a battle where you need friends. But now come, I need a real word with the boy who practically is my son. -Sigh- And I wish we could spare him this, but we practically have to be cruel before we can comfort him."

Misato didn't like it, but the gentle approach had failed up to now. "Good... but don't expect me to like it."

Entering the room, Kaldor almost gasped. Sitting impassive in the bed, Shinji looked _horrible! _It was clear that he hadn't slept well or much in the last days, and combined with his emotional troubles, this had really eaten at his substance. Looking to who it was, his eyes widened in surprise.

"Uncle Kal?" Shinji hadn't expected to see him here.

"You didn't think I would leave you alone in a hour like this?" he asked, slightly hurt. "Unlike your useless father, I take my responsibility serious."

"You don't understand! I nearly killed one of my friends..."

Misato knew that it was harsh, but as Kaldor had said, they would need to get things into his thick head. And after the gentle approach had failed, more direct words were needed. "Stop it, Shinji! Stop giving yourself the blame! I was there, and there had been nothing you could have done! Your father is the only one responsible! Stop beating yourself up for what he has done!" she snapped, making him shut up.

"Misato...?" Shinji was shocked that she had become so harsh.

"Sorry that I will sound cruel, but there is no other way for you to finally get it. You. Are. Not. Responsible! And Mana is already on the way to recovery and doesn't blame you. Finally get it into your damn skull that you haven't hurt her!" Misato continued to lecture him. She hated to do this to someone who had gone through so much, but it was the only option left.

Shinji was a little intimidated. Misato had never spoken with him like this outside of duty before. But what she had said, he basically already knew. He knew it was irrational to blame himself, yet he did so. But to have someone spell it out plainly helped to finally let it sink in.

But they weren't done, because now Kaldor spoke. "Shinji, why do you shut out everyone? Don't you see how much you hurt them? Poor Rei here feels rejected by you. Do you want to make her leave you?" He knew that was unfair, but only drastic words would make Shinji listen.

Shinji seemed to become paler when looking to Rei. The idea of her leaving him over this was _horrible_. And only now with no longer only being completely busy with his own problems did he see how worn down Rei looked. "Rei...? I...I...I didn't want to hurt you... Please don't leave me.."

Rei didn't know much about such situations, but enough to feel that right now Shinji needed her after finally seeing what he had done to. Walking to the bed, she gave him a hug. "I will not leave you, Shinji. I love you too much..."

Misato and Kaldor finally saw that the wall that Shinji had errected around himself was torn down. Now finally they could get to the root of what depressed him so much. "Son... Please tell me, what is wrong with you? What weights on you?" he asked him gently, feeling that not was the time to comfort him.

Still holding on Rei, Shinji tried to say it, but at first nothing came out. Thankfully they were patient with him, and finally... "I...I... wanted to be so strong... Wanted to be my own man, let no one get hold on me...especially not my old man..." It was obviously hard for him to talk about it. "He... had total control over my fate... I never wanted it to be... like this again."

Shinji's eyes started to water, his emotions overwhelming him. "And when he did that... It was horrible. I was doomed to see my friend being about to die... I was again his puppet... At his whims... I felt so useless!" Finally Shinji started to cry, leaning on Rei for support. The pale girl, who hadn't said much yet, did the only right thing: she held Shinji. Actions did more than words.

Walking directly beside the bed, Misato and Kaldor felt that now was the time for the gentle words.

"Shhhhhhh... Let it all out. We are now here for you," Kaldor calmly said, while holding Shinji's shoulder. It was really hard for him to see Shinji like this, result of him not fully getting over a trauma. He wanted him to return being the strong teenager he normally was.

"You have many friends who you can trust... We want to help you," Misato added. She felt as if taking the role of a parent. Something that disturbed her greatly, as she really didn't want to be one... at least not for the time being. And she doubted that she was mother-material.

After holding in all of the grief that had depressed him so much, the words now literally started to pour out of Shinji. He did know that what he felt mostly was in his head and had often nothing to do with reality, but it had rooted so deep, that it simply overpowered his reason. In all the panic at what happened to Mana, it had crashed down on him. He told them how scared he was, that something like this could happen anytime again. He confessed that he grew more and more ashamed at how he had treated them. And strewn in were many times reassurances that he really did like all of them, Rei especially.

They did the best to calm him down, as they barely understood half of what he said in the emotional storm he went through. But in the end, the exhaustion of all the time either without sleep or troubled one caught up with him. He was really tired.

Watching him slowly drift into sleep, Misato and Kaldor turned to leave for now. But when Rei tried to get up, the now asleep Shinji's arm held tight on where they were put around her mid-section. Rei looked to the adults with a small plead for help.

Misato, despite the still serious situation, barely hid a smile, while Kaldor showed it openly. "It seems he likes you so much that he doesn't want to let go of you. Propably it helps him to sleep with you being near... Eh, should we help you?"

"Yes, sitting there for hours could become... uncomfortable after a certain time," Misato added. After her being confined in an elevator for many hours, she knew exactly that being forced to stay at one place for a longer time could bring you in quite a situation.

Rei thought about it. it would mean to wake up Shinji. And he really needed his sleep right now. "I will stay. He does need me."

Nodding silently, the two adults left. After closing the door, Kaldor looked to Misato. "These two really love each other. Such loyality. It reminds me of my late wife..."

Misato had no trouble to see that he still hadn't fully come to terms with that, so she changed the topic. "Will he be all right? I'm no expert in things like that, but I really want him to be OK."

"Only time will tell... We've smashed his shell, forced him to finally see that we only want his best. But the rest is up to him... We should return later, to make more sense of what he had said. I've screwed up one time, I won't do so again. Until he's again well, and also feels so, I will stay... Eh, can you tell me where I can find a cheap room to stay for the time being?"

"As long as you don't mind monstrous concrete-slab apartment buildings. There are more than enough of these, it should be no problem," Misato said, while they both walked down the corridor.

* * *

_...later that day..._

_I really wonder how much longer I can hold it in... _Rei wondered. It had been hours since Shinji had fallen asleep while holding on her. She hadn't dared to try and get his arms off herself, since she didn't want to wake him up. He needed his sleep, so she was forced to sit beside him on the bed. But Rei had realised that there was a big drawback at being confined to one place.

She needed to use the bathroom... No, she REALLY needed to use the bathroom above everything else! At the moment she was still able to hold it in, but she had no idea for how much longer.

Right then Shinji finally seemed to wake up.

Shinji felt somewhat better after these hours of sleep, although he still felt horrible, even after his uncle, Misato and Rei had managed to get some sense into his head. Stuff like this didn't vanish overnight, that would take much longer. But he still felt better... reaussured that there were people there for him. Rousing out of sleep, he noticed he was holding on someone. Looking up, he saw Rei.

"Rei, you where here the entire time?"

"S-shinji... please let go-o... I need to..." she whimpered and her whole body was shaking, as if she was under a great strain. Shinji needed a second before understanding, letting go of her. Rei didn't waste a second and dashed to the next bathroom. Some minutes went by, before she returned, looking much calmer now.

"I'm sorry, Rei. I..." Shinji wanted to excuse him holding on her, but was silenced by her hand over his mouth.

"No excuses needed," she told him, before replacing her hand with her mouth. It lasted for some long seconds, before she released him. He could see that there were tears in her eyes. "I... missed you, Shinji. You were there... and yet away."

And then she hugged him, literally pulling him out of the bed. Shinji again was reminded that Rei, while looking somewhat frail, actually was unusually strong for a girl of her age. "It was... distressing. Do not do this again."

Being held by her, Shinji by now felt horribly ashamed that he had treated her like this. "I promise... I don't want to hurt you..."

* * *

_...the following day..._

Standing at the window in his hospital pyjamas, Shinji looked over the geofront, thinking. Yesterday Misato and his uncle had returned to talk with him some more, now that he had become calmer and thus could give more meaningful answers than when when they had poured out of him earlier. At first he had been hesistant, but then gave in and told them more about how insecure he felt of himself. They had been very understanding of his feelings, trying to console him, telling him that he was strong, only needed to find back on the path from which he had been knocked off. However, this time he should really get clear with his problems with their help, so that they wouldn't slam him down.

_Nice advice. But how am I supposed to do that, if I didn't manage to do so in more than 5 years? _Shinji wondered. It was so easy said. But to actually do it. He wondered if it would actually work. Did he have to accept his fears as total nonsense. Did he have to get convinced that he is stronger than the fears? He had no idea what way was the right one.

So while his depression had lessened and he had again become somewhat reasonable, the frustration was now growing within him. His friends wanted to help him, but he was at a loss what exactly he was supposed to do, despite all the good advice.

Yesterday, the other pilots had visited him as well, although Asuka hadn't said much. No wonder, since she had only very little real ties to him after what happened in the past. But she was civil enough to wish him to become better, adding that she knew how it felt to be in the blackest depressing. And one look into her eyes was enough to see that a part of her had been broken forever, although that maybe was for the best.

Right now Rei wasn't there. She had said she needed to take care of some things and would be back later. He already missed her. Her company had done much to hold him up. He was interrupted in his thoughts when the door opened. He saw his uncle, God knew how Misato had managed to get him a permanent pass, standing there. "Hello Shinji... you have a visitor."

He stepped aside, and Shinji was shocked for a second. He saw Mana entering the room. She still looked not so hot, despite the bruises starting to fade away. Adding to this picture was the crutch she had to use as her left leg didn't seem to respond perfectly.

"M-Mana?" Despite being told that Mana didn't hold this against him, he was still unsure of how she would think of him. And despite everything he had been told, there was still a little bit of guilt when seeing her like this.

Mana had no trouble to see that he still partially felt guilty for her injuries. His uncle had told her that he suspected so much, and that he would only finally stop beating up himself over this after hearing it from her own mouth.

"Mana..I..." But he stopped when she held up her free hand, telling him to be silent.

Mana was no friend of harsh words, so she wanted to tell him this in gentle and well-thought words. "I do not blame you, Shinji. You actually aren't in the slightest responsible for what happened. I will be all right. Please... please stop beating yourself up over it. I do not want to see you unhappy because you feel guilty over something that you had no control over," she pleaded to him in a clam voice.

Slowly walking over to Mana, Shinji carefully asked, "Still friends?" while holding out his hand. Gods, that Mana was not angry at him, and that he now was really sure of it, felt like some weight had fallen off him.

"Friends," she told him with a smile. She didn't want to lose her friend Shinji, and although she would have nightmares of being trapped in the possessed Trident, Shinji was innocent of it.

Kaldor watched the whole scene from the door. _One step in the right direction. You are so lucky to have so loyal friends..._

* * *

_...two days later, morning..._

Shinji was really glad that they felt he had mentally recovered enough that they would release him from the hospital. Sure, he still felt as if someone had mopped the floor with him, and he was still listless, but it felt really good to have friends...family, with who he could speak about what troubled him. He still felt he owed them an apology at how he had treated them, but they had only said that it wasn't his fault, that he simply had been overwhelmed by all of it.

However, he still wasn't much closer to an answer to his problems. But maybe there wasn't an universal answer to it? Maybe he had to get the answer through living on? He had no idea.

"At least you don't any longer look as if you had swallowed ten toads. You really made me worry," his uncle commented, while waiting on the other side of the dressing screen for him to finish. He had said he would stay in the city as long as he had to, to make sure that 'his boy' would be all right. Not much of a problem, as he did all his work over his laptop anyway. Rei wasn't there, as she had no excuse to miss another day of school.

"-sigh- Let's say it this way: The worst is over, but I still don't feel so hot..." Shinji really felt better, but it didn't mean that his issues had vanished into thin air. It would still haunt him for quite some time. Thankfully they had managed to get it into his thick skull that his friends were there for him to help.

Kaldor rolled his eyes. "You are too smart to think that something could zap this away. I know you still must feel like pulled through the mud back and forth, but you want to fight."

"Only after you literally forced me to realise that I need your help," Shinji interjected while walking out from behind the screen, done with dressing.

"Ah, rubbish!" Kaldor waved it off. "We only gave you the spark, the rest soley came from you! Your'e the son I never had... and you make me proud."

Shinji blushed a little. "You like to embarrass me, right...?

Now Kaldor laughed. "You know it a parents' job to do so, I'm only following tradition." Then he became more serious, putting his hand on Shinji's shoulder. "But now come. I see you are still down in the dumps and could use some cheering up. And it's alway easier to speak of how you feel, when in a much nicer environment."

Yep, that was his uncle. Unlike his father he had a good sense for how others felt, one of his best qualities. Shinji really hoped that he would find the right woman again. He didn't want his uncle to live alone forever. He gave a small smile. "You know that..."

**-EEAAAHT- -EEAAAHT- -EEAAAHT-**

"What's this?" his uncle wondered, when they were interrupted by an alarm siren.

Shinji knew this alert too well. And he had become a little paler when realising exactly what it meant. "The alert... An Angel."

_**to be continued...**_

_**Next Episode:**_

_**"Zeruel"**_


	26. Zeruel

I will say these things in advance: I have absolutely no rights to NGE, but you should have already known that. 

The story itself is basically a re-telling of the original storyline, but twisted into my way. While at the beginning there seem to be only few deviances, it will become more with each episode. The people, their motivations and the backgrounds are while holding true to the basic layout, changed at my imagination in many details, so canon-purists now are allowed to flame me.

NOTE: I hate both, the ending of the TV series, and how End of Evangelion turned out. So don't expect either of those outcomes.

This is Shinji/Rei. Finally the Angel of Might has arrived.

After you've read the chapter **Please Review! **It is frustrating for me to see so little resonance to the creative work I do, despite the high number of readers. Please tell me your opinion. I promise to answer every review I get.

* * *

**Chapter 25: Zeruel**

"The Angel appeared over the ocean and is approaching fast! It simply waltzed through the defensive lines as if they were nothing and will reach the city in minutes!" Lt. Aoba reported, while everyone went to battle stations. It had come as a total surprise for them that the next Angel had appeared so soon after the last one.

Misato had been at her desk when the base was put on alert. An Angel at this time was maybe the worst that could have happened to them. "Damn it! Where are our pilots?" She knew Shinji wasn't in any shape to pilot right now, since he was still recovering from his depression, so that left them with four pilots.

"Pilots Horaki and Suzuhara are already here and are preparing for deployment. Pilots Ayanami and Soryu are on their way," Maya reported while frantically checking all systems.

Right then, Ritsuko remembered something. "We had planned to attach the new arm to Unit-00 this afternoon. Right now it still only has one arm and we don't have the time to attach it."

"Fantastic... That means Unit-00 isn't ready for battle. Get Rei into Unit-01, it's proven she can pilot it. Deploy Units 03 and 04 outside." Misato also felt unwell because her two superiors were again supervising the battle from the command level. Her thoughts were interrupted when someone else appeared on the bridge.

Shinji knew his uncle would have to wait in the general area, where he would at least see what was going on over the screen, because his guest clearance didn't allow him entrance into these parts of the building. He himself however, did, although normally the personnel didn't want the pilots entering the bridge.

"Misato, what the hell is going on?" he gasped, having run all the way from the hospital to the bridge.

"An Angel is attacking, that's going on. Sorry, but right now you are in no condition to pilot, so Rei will pilot your EVA," Misato told him, hoping he would understand.

Shinji did understand. He still didn't feel so hot, and that meant he wasn't up to piloting right now. "Can I at least stay here?" he asked her, hoping that at least he could follow the battle.

Misato didn't know. The Commander hadn't reacted at all, and the Vice-Commander looked to her as if to say that it was her choice. "Ok, we'll make an exception," she decided. There would be no damage done if Shinji stayed with them.

"Units 03 and 04 are ready. The other two pilots have arrived and are preparing themselves," Lt. Ibuki called.

But before she could say more, Lt. Aoba interrupted her. "The Angel has appeared at the edge of the city!"

Outside, a huge black-and-white patterned giant appeared over the hills surrounding the city. The Angel was relatively humanoid in shape, except that in place of its arms was something that looked like folded paper. The face was a bony mask showing a face of rage. All batteries at once opened fire on the Angel, but with only little effect at all, explosions bouncing off it like rain on a plastic coat.

_**FOOLS! That won't help you!**_ The Angel known as Zeruel almost exploded in pure anger. _**You won't stop me in avenging my brother! From killing his murderer!**_

He had been known as a pacifist by his siblings, one that didn't want to bully them despite his enormous power. He was the strongest of Adam's children, and yet he never wanted to use his power to force his will on others. But that had changed now. First there was what the Lilim had done to their father, which had already angered him. But then they had killed his brother.

Sachiel had always been the little brother for him. Sure, they were all siblings, but he and Sachiel had been especially close to each other. And then this... this perversion created from their traitor-mother Lilith had murdered him. Every peaceful thought had left him after that, his heart crumbled to bits, leaving behind a being of pure rage, rage that grew stronger with each new sibling killed by the Lilim. Oh yes, he would free his father and destroy the Lilim. But foremost he wanted to MASSACRE the murderer of his brother!

_**I have had ENOUGH of your games!**_ Finally he had enough of these useless attacks against him and let loose a burst from his eye-weapons, targeting the central battery. He knew that he would have an easy time breaking the armor of that Lilim-fortress.

**-BLLLLLLAAAARRROOOOOUUUUM-**

Several alerts went off on the bridge when the massive burst hit home. Lt. Hyuga looked in sheer horror at the screen. "Unbelievable! That single burst from the Angel has destroyed 18 of the armor layers! Another one at the same point and it can enter the geofront! Such power..."

"Start Units 03 and 04 now! We have to stop it before that happens!" Misato ordered. She was horrified by the firepower this Angel was packing, which was even worse than the fifth Angel.

At once the two EVAs were started and arrived in the city when Zeruel was busy demolishing the defense systems one after the other, cross-shaped energy clouds rising from the points where his weapon had hit and vaporised the weapon emplacements. He seemed to totally ignore the EVAs for now, concentrating on cleaning the field.

Hikari and Toji were a little surprised by that, and also scared at the sheer destruction this Angel was right now causing to the city. "Hikari, Toji, attack the Angel as long as it is distracted!" Misato told them, stress clear in her voice. She knew they wouldn't get a chance like this again.

"All right, Hikari, we sneak up from behind and then stab it together with our prog knives. That should also take care of the field if we manage to get close enough! Are you with me?" Toji suggested to Hikari. He had seen this in countless action movies, and couldn't wait to try this himself.

She didn't have a better idea, especially when seeing how weapons fire simply bounced off the Angel. So she took the chance. "All right, I'm with you," she said, readying her knife.

Holding their prog knives ready they ran up to the Angel from behind, where it couldn't see them, until they were sure to be close enough that the field would fizzle out. "On three! One, two, THREE!" Toji screamed, and then both of them tried to ram their prog knives into the back of the Angel.

But to their astonishment, the blades broke into tiny fragments when making contact with the Angel, and instead the Angel turned around, looking at them with they guessed was pure hatred. "What the hell? Why didn't it work?" Toji gasped. Shouldn't they have neutralised the field? And right at this moment he knew that they were done for.

Lt. Hyuga looked in alarm at his screen. "Major! The Angel hasn't even activated its field! That's some kind of natural armor protecting it!"

Zeruel was really pissed. Now he was facing some of the abominations, but not the one he wanted to get his hands on. Still, for now they would feel his wrath! No one would sneak up on him without paying the price. _**You are foolish to try that! No one does that to me! **_Like a freight train of death he attacked them.

_Oh shit!_ was the only thing Toji could think, when he saw the Angel firing at him. 

He had known that this could happen, that he could die. But that it would happen right at this moment... He wasn't prepared for it. Nothing could have prepared him for it. After all, you didn't expect death hiding behind the next corner, until it was too late... right?

**-BRAAAAMMM-**

"Toji!" Hikari gasped, when the Angel fired at the ground under his Unit-03, the huge detonation throwing her away from her partner. Barely managing to get up, she saw in horror his EVA being flung through the air by the detonation like a rag doll, the legs below the knees cleanly ripped off by the sheer power of the attack, before the EVA smashed into the side of a far hill, where it remained, unmoving.

"You monster!" Hikari screamed. Her anger at the Angel burned bright. The Angel had hurt him, the boy she felt so much for. She wanted to hurt it for that in return, all caution leaving her at this moment. Dashing towards, it, she wanted to throw it to the ground.

"Hikari, no!" Misato tried to warn her, but it was too late.

**-WAAAM-**

The blast from the Angel hit Unit-04 clean in the lower body, ripping a hole through it. Its innards hung out of it like macabre decoration, followed by a stream of the EVA's blood. For Hikari it felt like her stomach had been ripped out. 

Holding her mid-section, scraps of thoughts shot through her mind. _Gods... I... don't want to die! Toji... I wish we could have become... much closer... _Then the pain became far too much for her. She passed out, her Unit-04 collapsing on the ground, becoming partially buried under the rubble from a collapsing building.

Zeruel looked pleased at his defeated enemies. He wouldn't lose anymore time than necessary with them. He had more important things to do, but again the Lilim didn't stop firing on him, despite knowing better by now. It only served to make him even madder than he already was. _**I will level this whole place after I'm done with the killer! Oh yes, Sachiel, you won't be disappointed in your big brother!**_

His siblings had been scared at how brutal he had become since Sachiel's death. Sure, all of them became more embittered with every death of their siblings, but they had started to actually fear him. He had totally changed after that fateful night. Only hate, anger and pure rage were left in him._** Take this! **_He again started to cleanse the city of any resistance.

"It... it simply swatted them aside... like flies." Misato's horror had grown when seeing this display of power. "The pilots?"

"They are still alive. But the immense pain from the perceived injuries overloaded their brains, they are unconscious," Maya hastily reported, checking the status of the pilots, while remotely disconnecting them from the system.

Looking to Shinji, Misato had no trouble to see that he was scared, really scared by this monstrosity. "There's no time to send the other Units to the surface! Send them into the geofront; they will intercept the Angel there." Then she looked to Lt. Hyuga. "Please tell me you have good news."

"The Angel hasn't bothered to activate its AT-field. It is only an idea, but using a concentrated energy beam from one of our particle rifles directly against the core on its front could penetrate the outer shell," he suggested. He knew it was a far shot, but they couldn't be picky right now.

"Transfer the rifles to the geofront!" Misato ordered. "Status of the EVAs?"

"Unit 02 has arrived inside the geofront. We are about to start Unit-01," Lt. Ibuki reported.

Rei tried to stay calm inside the entry plug of Unit-01, while waiting for the start of the synchronisation process. She knew what was going on outside, and that the situation was serious. And despite her concentration she felt very nervous.

"-gasp!-" For Rei the start of the process felt like being thrown into cold water. Unit-01 checked out the inside her head, as if wanting to make absolutely sure that it was her. It was very unpleasant for Rei. It felt as if her soul was first stripped naked and then forced into a cavity search. Even if she wanted, she was unable to hold any secrets from the EVA. And then it stopped and she all of a sudden had a feeling as if she was a child that was lectured by her mother not to go further.

_I have to succeed! _They needed her out there.

The feelings she received changed, now it felt like a parent scolding a child, but not in anger. And then... She held her hand over her mouth when it felt as if unseen fingers poked and tickled her stomach, obviously gentle pressure to tell her that she wouldn't succeed here.

"Unit-01 isn't accepting the pilot. It's disconnecting her," Maya called.

"Impossible, it isn't made to do that!" But Ritsuko knew quite well what could be going on. Or better, she knew who was responsible for this.

On the command level, Fuyutsuki looked to Gendo. "Do you think that it is her?" he asked him. He had the greatest respect for Yui, but if that was her doing, she had picked the worst moment to voice her protest.

If Gendo had been surprised by this turn of events, he didn't show it. But on the inside, it disturbed him greatly. Why was Yui doing this? This again endangered the black-and-white view he had on things, his idea that Yui approved of his doings. "Unit-01 is going against me... She wants the regular pilot." Looking down where Shinji watched the fireworks at the surface on the screen, he added "But he is useless right now."

_You speak of your son as if he is a tool. I can imagine why she wants him to pilot, and not Rei, _Kozo Fuyutsuki thought, feeling that should Yui ever return, Gendo would be in for a rude awakening. "And what do we do now?"

The Commander looked down to Misato. "Send out Rei in Unit-00. Desperate times call for desperate measures." For him that was maybe the best chance, should they survive, to get rid of the second Rei and activate the third, thus getting rid of a huge problem.

Misato didn't know if it was even remotely smart to send a one-armed EVA into battle, and Shinji, knowing the condition of Unit-00, looked up to his father in a mixture of disbelief and anger. But before he could utter a word, Rei said, "I will do it."

Now Shinji was scared. "Rei... You can't..."

"No, Shinji, I do have a plan," she reassured him, before the connection was cut. In the cage, Rei barely managed to get out of the plug, before she had to violently throw up; both from what Unit-01 had done to her and from what she planned to do.

_Shinji, please forgive me what I want to do... _She knew what could happen to her. If she survives it, Shinji would be very disappointed in her for risking everything like that. But after seeing what this Angel was capable of, she was determined. Even if it meant making a sacrifice._ I'm scared... but I have to do it._

**-BAAAAOOOOOOOOMMMMM-**

"The Angel has broken through the armor!" Lt. Aoba called.

A huge explosion ripped through the ceiling structure of the geofront, debris falling down on the vegetation below. And in the midst of all the smoke, Zeruel slowly descended down to the ground. He felt it, he was close now, the call much clearer. Looking down, he spotted another enemy, and at once knew what this abomination planned to do.

_**You think you can hurt me? Think again! For you, I have something special in store! **_It wasn't the murderer, but this was another great chance to vent his anger. And this time, he would show them what else he had in store for them.

Asuka couldn't hide her fear while waiting for the Angel to descend, so that she could fire her particle rifle at its core. She had seen what this monster had done to Toji and Hikari in a frightening show of power. Some months ago, she would have entered this battle in anger and sure of her victory in her ego-fed over-confidence. But now she hoped... prayed that she could defeat this thing. Even all the confidence she had still managed to gather couldn't hide her uneasiness. For some reason Rei had been unable to start Unit-01, so she was totally alone in trying to stop the Angel. In the past she would have seen it as her chance to prove that she could do the job. Now it felt for her like an immense weight on her shoulders.

Finally the Angel had lowered on the ground, close enough that she was sure to have neutralised its AT-field. "All right, eat this!" she shouted, more to ensure herself, before aiming the rifle directly at the red core, firing off a strong particle beam.

But instead of impacting with the core, the beam fizzled out in a yellow wall glowing in an octagonal pattern. Asuka looked disbelieving at this. "Why isn't it working? I should have neutralised the field!" Desperate she tried it again and again, but with the same result. "Damn it!"

Lt. Hyuga meanwhile frantically checked the results from the scanners. "Major! Unit-02 alone isn't strong enough to neutralise the field! Its strength is immense!"

"But this means..." It dawned on Misato that when the Angel activated its field, no single EVA would have a chance to break through. Then she saw the Angel reacting. "Asuka! Watch out!"

"Wha...?" Asuka saw the Angel, who had sat still up to now, reacting.

_**Was that all? All right, now it is my turn! **_In this moment, the paper-like arms of Zeruel unfolded, looking like long, thin strips of paper. They looked a little like whips, but seemed harmless. However, the look was deceiving. Zeruel didn't simply want to blow this one to bits, his sadism wanted to be satisfied. _**With greetings from my siblings!**_

The paper-arms shot forward and cleanly sliced through the arm joints of Unit-02 like ultra-sharp razor blades! They remained there for a second, before moving up and down, cleanly separating the arms at the joints. There severed limbs fell aside the EVA. The deed done, Zeruel retracted the arms, looking at the crippled EVA, its blood shooting out of the huge wounds where its arms had been.

"AAAAGGGHHHHH!" Asuka didn't care about anything else but screaming and crying right now. It felt like her real arms were cut off. It HURT! She wanted the pain to stop! She was so lost in her pain that she didn't notice the pressure of the LCL rising, until she blacked out, the crippled Unit-02 collapsing on the ground.

"Great Gods..." Shinji stammered, when seeing this horrific display. The Angel had defeated Asuka just like that, without breaking a sweat. "Is there anything that can stop this thing at all?"

"What about Asuka?" Misato barked, hoping that this didn't mean the worst.

"She's alive. The LCL pressure had risen because of unknown factors and knocked her out," Lt. Ibuki reported while severing Asuka's connections to Unit-02.

Everyone on the bridge knew that after the Angel had effortlessly swatted aside three Evangelions, that their chances for survival had become dim at best. Unit-01 was not available, and Rei in her damaged Unit-00 had little chance of going against this living tank. The Angel meanwhile started to move around, as if searching for something.

Zeruel knew that if his counting was right, three of the five abominations were now out. But there were still two left. And one of them was the one he wanted. He wouldn't give rest until this one's head lay severed at his feet!_**Where are you? WHERE ARE YOU? **_The failure of the murderer to appear was igniting new anger. Hearing something, he turned around to see another of his enemies rising out of the ground, but this one seemed unarmed. _**So, and now what?**_

"That's Unit-00, but it isn't carrying any weapons..." Ritsuko stopped, when seeing on the screen what Unit-00 was carrying in its hand. "She has an N²!"

"REI!" Shinji shouted, not caring about anything else when seeing Unit-00 starting to run towards the Angel. "What the hell are you doing?" He had a dark suspicion what Rei planned to do, and he hoped that he was wrong.

"It is the only way..." Rei's voice seemed calm, and yet the fear in it was clear.

"That's madness! Don't do it!" Shinji pleaded with her, but it was too late, Unit-00 had already reached the Angel's AT-field, trying to force the N² through it to detonate it directly against the core.

"I'm sorry Shinji. Forgive me..."

_**Not stupid. Really not stupid. But even this won't stop me! **_Zeruel ranted. And when Unit-00 managed to get the N²-bomb through the field to detonate it against his core, he surprised her by pulling a bony membrane over it. Rei had no time to react...

**-BBBBBBBBBBRROOOOOOUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMM-**

Everyone on the bridge was silent when the inferno of the explosion, only contained within the AT-field of the Angel, filled the screen. They were shocked that Rei had done this, going on a kamikaze attack to defeat the Angel. So much selflessness to ensure their survival...

Shinji looked at the inferno with tears in his eyes. He still couldn't believe that she had decided to do this, to accept her possible sacrifice to save them. "Rei... what have you done...?" He felt like his heart was about to crumble. If Rei didn't survive this, it would mean that a part of him would die as well.

The dust from the explosion slowly settled, and to everyone's horror they saw that the Angel was still standing, as if the explosion of the N² hadn't hurt it in the slightest, while Unit-00 laid at its feet, unmoving, a good part of its paintjob burned off. This was the worst case scenario. Now no one was left to go against the Angel.

"Futile... It was futile," Ritsuko said in utter defeat. She knew what would await all of them now. This Angel had no trouble destroying all their defenses, and now they would be next. She felt cold inside. She hadn't thought that being so sure of her impending death would feel like this.

Misato also knew what it meant, but she tried to push it away. "The pilot...?"

As if getting out of a trance, Maya looked on her screen. "She... she is still alive. She has suffered several burns and has blacked out. She will go nowhere."

The seconds seemed to be very long, while the Angel did nothing more than looking around, as if searching for something. Misato frowned when, after a minute, the Angel still hadn't done anything. "What is it doing? It could have blown us away by now. What is it waiting for?"

Outside, Zeruel was seething. Where was that murderer? It enraged him to no end that this one dared to ignore him completely. It had been below his dignity until now to verbally express himself. But it seemed the Lilim only would finally reveal their last perversion, the biggest of them at that, after he would order them to do so.

_**"SHOW YOURSELF!"**_ Zeruel's voiced boomed through the geofront like a thunderstorm. _**"I'M WAITING FOR YOU, MURDERER OF MY BROTHER!"**_ From his voice it became clear that he hadn't much patience left.

Everyone had again fallen silent when they heard the Angel suddenly starting to speak in a very angry male voice. By now they knew that the Angels could speak, but it had surprised them that he had deemed it necessary to do so at this moment. And that the Angel had a demand they had no idea what it meant, made it even worse.

It seemed the Angel was really impatient as his voice boomed through the geofront again. _**"I SAID I'M WAITING! SHOW YOURSELF, OR I WILL START TO TAKE THIS PLACE APART PIECE BY PIECE!"**_

"It is me he wants."

Everyone looked to Shinji, who had said these words. His horror and fear had left him. Instead he now looked determined, and, judging from the clenching of his hands, there was also a fair amount of anger involved. Shinji looked hard at the picture of the Angel.

"Look at him, it finally dawned on me how much he looks like the first Angel that attacked. He wants revenge. He wants me, he will get me," Shinji stated calmly.

Looking at the picture, they found that he was right, that Angel really looked a lot like the first that had attacked Tokyo-3. Misato looked to Shinji in great concern. "Shinji..."

"No, Misato, I have to do this. He has hurt my friends. Really hurt them. I won't let him get away with this. And I think I know where to hit him." His voice was trembling, testament to how he barely suppressed his anger at the Angel. 

Shinji's insecurity had left him the moment it had become clear to him, that he alone could now turn the tide and save them all from death. The seriousness of the situation had silenced any doubts for now, and the anger he felt for what had been done to his friends, especially to Rei, fueled a fire deep inside him he hadn't thought he possessed. For now he only wanted one thing: to defeat the Angel and save everyone from certain death. He himself had been surprised at how he felt, but for now it was unimportant.

Reaching around his neck, he removed his locket, giving it to Misato. "Keep it safe for me." Then he ran out of the bridge, towards the cage of Unit-01.

Looking at the locket in her hand, Misato was about to order someone to stop Shinji, but the Commander held up his hand. "Do not stop him and immediately prepare for deployment from the cage," he calmly ordered.

Everyone was silent for a moment, and then the voice of Zeruel again boomed through the geofront. _**"I'M LOSING MY PATIENCE!"**_And to underline the threat he fired off a burst that clearly blew off the upper ten meters of the NERV-pyramid. The bridge shook under this attack, dust falling down from the ceiling. Like a wake-up call, it served to get everyone back to work.

"He's our last hope... Should he also lose..." Misato said, while looking at the locket in her hand. It spoke of how much he trusted her. Pocketing it, she returned her attention to the main screen, where the Angel seemed to prepare for another burst to underline his ultimatum.

On the command level, Fuyutsuki looked with concern at the Commander. "Do you think he can do it? Succeed where all the others have failed?"

"Yes, I do," Gendo said. "However, not in the way you might think."

Fuyutsuki wondered what Gendo could mean with it, if he had a plan behind a plan. "What are you planning, Gendo?"

Gendo's eyes looked as if in total concentration, as if going through the possibilities. "If that which I planned really happens, victory is ensured. And the new plan will have made the most crucial step. I do not so much believe in him, as I believe in her."

The Vice-Commander knew what this meant, at least vaguely, and he didn't like it. _I really hope we don't trade one evil for another. Great Gods, what have we done by creating something like this? I can only pray the world after this war can forgive us our sins, should the world still exist at all._

* * *

_...meanwhile in the cage..._

Running up the stairs to the entry plug, Shinji wondered if he was brave, or immensely stupid. But right now he didn't actually care. He had only one goal before his eyes right now. He was a little scared at his newfound courage, especially after his breakdown, but this also was secondary right now.

Climbing up the last steps, he stood before the entry plug of Unit-01. Another explosion rocked the cage. The Angel must have destroyed something else in the geofront. Now time was of essence. Climbing into the entry plug, Shinji's thoughts returned to Rei.

She had been willing to sacrifice herself to ensure their survival. And the thought of doing nothing when the Angel wanted him, while Rei had been willing to make such a big sacrifice, had filled him with shame. Right at this moment he had decided not to run away from his responsibility and confront his enemy. He wouldn't make Rei ashamed by being a coward.

While the plug closed and was filled with LCL, he thought further. He was still scared of the possibility that he could find his death in the battle. But that was human nature. If someone stopped fearing death, then this person was truly lost. He wasn't ashamed of his fear, he accepted it. And when the EVA synchronised with him, he felt that something else also strengthened his confidence. Right now he didn't care what it was.

And now he would meet his greatest challenge yet.

On the bridge Lt. Ibuki looked astonished at the numbers for Unit-01, while it ascended to the geofront. "Shinji's synch-ratio has risen well over 80! Astounding!"

"I wouldn't have thought of this as possible after his strong depression. His sheer determination must have strengthened his ratio," Ritsuko speculated. She knew, even Yui couldn't do wonders with Shinji's ratio, only work with what was there in the first place. So it had to come from the boy himself.

In the geofront meanwhile, Zeruel was about to lose the last bit of patience and blow open the ground. If his enemy wouldn't come to him, he would come to the enemy. _**"MY PATIENCE IS AT ITS END! NOW I WILL COME TO..."**_

**"Here I am!"**

Looking around, Zeruel's anger rose to critical levels when he finally saw the murderer appearing from the ground. Finally he could avenge his brother!_**"Finally..."**_ Zeruel growled, facing Unit-01 as if in a mano-a-mano showdown. _**"Now hold still so that I can destroy you!"**_

**"First you have to get me!" **Shinji challenged him, before jumping to the side, the blast barely missing him, but cutting his cable before impacting against the outer wall.

Right now he didn't care. He had found the weakness of this Angel, the error the other pilots had made. The Angel was a walking tank, but that also meant that he was slow, meaning that if Shinji stayed in motion, he wouldn't get hit. And he thought he had found the weak spot. It wasn't the core... it was the ugly visage of that monster. It was small, hard to hit and therefore probably vulnerable.

Zeruel was seething, his enemy made fun of him. His blasts missed and he had no time to cut it to pieces with his blade-arms. _**"Hold still!"**_

**"In your dreams!"** Shinji screamed, jumping towards the Angel so that its arms missed him by a mile, knocking him to the ground.

**-BLAMM-**

Zeruel managed to let loose one burst, effectively blasting off Unit-01's left arm a little under the shoulder. But Shinji was by now far too much in an adrenaline rush to notice. With his right fist he started to bash on the boney face of the Angel.

_**My concentration! My concentration!**_ The direct and concentrated strikes hurt Zeruel, really hurt him, his only weak spot. He was a walking tank, but had only little tolerance for pain, and right now the pain paralysed him, making him unable to attack or build up his field. _**"You will pay...for this! It has been a long time since... Zeruel had been this hurt!"**_

**"I dare to doubt that I will pay!"** Shinji screamed, seeing that his bashing on the face had created cracks on it. Grabbing the Angel's face he pulled hard on it, trying to rip it off the body. It didn't come off, but the howls of the Angel proved that it really hurt. Letting go, Shinji prepared for another strike, when all of a sudden the light around him went out, and he lost all controls.

Now he remembered his severed cable. "No..."

On the bridge, everyone was frozen when they saw that Shinji had been about to defeat the Angel, only to be stopped when his batteries had been depleted. Even their last resort had failed, and this only because of lacking power.

Now they knew that their death was assured.

Zeruel had no idea why his enemy had suddenly stopped attacking him, being frozen in motion. But he didn't care. Now was the time to settle the score. _**"I have waited a long time for this..."**_ Grabbing Unit-01 with one of his arms, he slammed it into the NERV-pyramid.

Full of hatred he looked at his paralysed enemy. _**"Now you will die..."**_ And then he let loose a full blast directly against the chest of the Evangelion. Hot metal pieces flew in all directions together with chunks of brown flesh. Waiting for the smoke to clear, he then saw exactly what he aimed for.

On the bridge, Misato looked in horrified wonder on what the ripped open chest of Unit-01 had revealed. It was a huge, dull-orange sphere, not unlike the core of an Angel. "What is that?" she wondered aloud, looking to Ritsuko.

"The central core of the EVA. If he breaks it..." Ritsuko looked up to Gendo. The Commander looked very different from his usual self. He seemed concerned, really concerned, now that the core was laid bare. And Ritsuko knew why. The destruction of Unit-01 would be also the destruction of the one woman Gendo wanted to regain.

Zeruel started to attack the core with his blade-arms, but to his astonishment, the core didn't seem to be fazed by his attacks. This was the first time his arms hadn't cut through something in the first strike. _**"Whhaaaaat? I WILL destroy your heart, regardless how long it will take!"**_Angry he again started to hit the core.

Inside the entry plug, Shinji was panicking, feeling the EVA tremble each time the Angel hit it. Helplessly he pulled the controls. Desperate and half in panic he screamed, "Damn it! Work! WORK! You stupid piece of shit! Everyone will die otherwise!" It was useless. "WHY CAN'T ANYONE HELP ME?" he screamed. 

_"What is it that you want?"_

This ghostly voice that suddenly appeared in his head calmed Shinji down in an instant. He had no idea who it was, nor did he care. This voice was so calming for him, so familiar. Totally unmoving, he whispered: "I want to save everyone."

_"What are you willing to give for it?"_

The answer came to Shinji on its own. It was the only thing he knew that was right to say. "Everything."

_"So be it."_

Shinji then felt so weightless, as if floating, as if at this moment, nothing mattered anymore. There was a vortex of chaos coming closer, he felt it. It wanted to swallow him. But moments before it could reach him, two gentle arms wrapped themselves around him, pulling him to safety. And then his mind couldn't process it any longer.

Everything went white around him.

Zeruel finally saw a crack in the core. A few more good strikes, and it would be broken. One of his arms again shot forward... But suddenly the eyes of Unit-01 burned in a pure white, and its hand shot up. And to Zeruel's complete surprise, its fingers suddenly were like even sharper blades, his own simply ripping in small strands, causing him horrible pain before the EVA grabbed his arm to pull him towards it!

_**"ARRGH!"**_Zeruel came face to face with it, and he had no trouble to see murder in its eyes, hear the threatening growl coming from it. And then a strong kick forced him away, ripping off his arm! _**"AAAHHHRGGHHHHH!"**_screaming in pain, he landed at the far side of the geofront, wondering what the hell had suddenly happened.

Growling, Unit-01 looked after its fallen enemy, then it slammed the ripped-off arm against the wound at its left shoulder. Its material seemed to liquefy, re-forming the lost arm, its brown flesh a stark contrast to the purple armor.

Everyone on the bridge was taken aback by this sudden turn of events. "It has reactivated... Great gods, Ritsu, what have you created?" Misato stammered, when seeing this regeneration of the left arm.

"Impossible!" Everyone looked to Maya, who looked disbelieving at her screen. "Shinji's synch-ratio has jumped to... over 400 percent!"

Ritsuko knew exactly what this meant. It had been a theory, something she had dismissed as impossible to realise. Because everyone who reached 400 or more would disappear forever, and the EVA would still be the same. But this was different. "I feared this would happen..."

Misato looked to her friend, who seemed to have become several shades paler. "What? What did you fear would happen?"

She didn't look to Misato, instead staring at the screen when Unit-01 started to roar. "Unit-01 has awakened," she said cryptically.

Unit-01 roared loud. It now wanted to feast on its enemy, its bloodthirst awakened. The most primitive corners of its mind wanted it to become whole, to gain what was left to gain. Greedy it looked to its enemy, who had managed to get up again, drool running down over its teeth.

Zeruel had been really hurt, but he wasn't defeated yet! _**"YOU WILL REGRET THIS!"**_ he screamed, shooting his other blade-arm at his enemy. For what had been done to him, he wanted to kill! But to his horror, his enemy slammed its hand to the ground, and a massive AT-field shockwave shattered his arm, the fragments shooting back at him! He activated his field, tried to stop them.

But it was useless, the fragments ripping through him, blood oozing out of countless wounds._**"Auuuurrrrgghhhhh!"**_ Screaming he fell to the ground, helpless. The mighty Zeruel, Angel of Might, had fallen.

Like an animal on all fours, Unit-01 ran towards the fallen Angel, looking greedy at the dying Angel. Zeruel was too weak to put up any resistance, instead the horror now grew in him, when he had a good guess what his enemy was about to do, seeing its greedy mouth. _**"Gluurkk... No...No! Not like this..."**_

Roaring, the EVA ripped out a bit of his flesh, eating it. _**"Arrgbbgl-ll! It can't end...like this...!"**_

Horrified everyone watched the Evangelion starting to eat the Angel alive and heard the desperate voice of the Angel, mixed with its death screams. It was a horrible sight, and Maya was unable to hold in the contents of her stomach when seeing this. Everyone now wondered what the bigger horror was: the Angel or Unit-01.

Ritsuko then realised what was going on. "It wants to eat the Angel's S² engine..."

Zeruel saw what the enemy now wanted to do. _**"Sachiel...father... I fail-l-lleeed-d-d--d..." **_Silence followed when Unit-01 ripped the core out and swallowed it in one piece, killing Zeruel in the process.

Unit-01 felt good... it felt GREAT! It felt the missing piece of the puzzle of its very existence moving into place. It felt the energy burning inside its depths! It felt the POWER! Its muscles started to grow, destroying the outer armor in numerous places, while it roared in triumph. It was finally COMPLETE!

"EVA-01 is freeing itself..." Ritsuko said, stunned. For her that was a nightmare coming true. She had always seen this only as a mathematical possibility. But to see this first-hand was horrifying and scared her to no end. All of her cool front had fallen away, laying bare the image of a very scared woman.

"Freeing itself from what?" Makoto asked.

"The whole outer armor was also designed like a straightjacket, to tame the power of the Evangelions so that we can control them. But now Unit-01 is free! We can't control it any longer. The beast in this EVA is now free..." explained to them.

Everyone continued to look in horror at the picture of the roaring Unit-01, standing triumphant over the remaining corpse of its defeated enemy. They had become aware that maybe they had traded one monster for another, even worse one.

o

Ryoji watched the roaring Unit-01 from the edge of the geofront. He had been on the way into the geofront when this had started and the way had been blocked when the battle had moved inside the geofront. So he had retreated into a safe place near the wall to see what would happen. To say that the bloody carnage had been hard to watch, even for him, was an understatement.

But what he saw now, that was the total disaster. Now Unit-01 was totally uncontrollable, SEELE would now surely step up whatever they had planned, and Ikari surely had planned this. And since he saw Unit-00 laying there, he knew it had been Shinji in Unit-01. He couldn't help but hope that the boy was all right.

"SEELE won't like this... I have to report it as fast as possible to stay in their good graces. My true employers also need to know. But first I have to see that Misato is all right..." That said, he made his way towards the HQ, now that the danger was over.

o

Kaldor Ikari had watched the entire horror on the screen in the general area. He had seen much in his life, including the suffering caused by the Second Impact. But what he had wittnessed right now was the most horrific thing he had ever seen. And seeing the purple Evangelion enter the fray, he knew that Shinji had decided to try and save the day.

And then this had happened, this bloody carnage where the battle machine had turned into...into a monster. Kaldor by now was sick with worry about Shinji. And he prayed that he wouldn't lose Shinji as he had lost his sister Yui.

"Please be alright, Shinji," he hoped, watching the roaring beast that had once been Unit-01, on the screen.

o

Kozo Fuyutsuki had seen much in his life, but for him this display had been really hard to watch. Silent he looked to Gendo, who actually looked pleased. "Gendo?"

"Now I have the lock and the key," was the only thing Gendo said.

_**to be continued...**_

_**Next Episode:**_

_**"The Love of a Mother"**_


	27. The Love of a Mother

I will say these things in advance: I have absolutely no rights to NGE, but you should have already known that.

The story itself is basically a re-telling of the original storyline, but twisted into my way. While at the beginning there seem to be only few deviances, it will become more with each episode. The people, their motivations and the backgrounds are while holding true to the basic layout, changed at my imagination in many details, so canon-purists now are allowed to flame me.

NOTE: I hate both, the ending of the TV series, and how End of Evangelion turned out. So don't expect either of those outcomes.

This is Shinji/Rei. This chapter was a chore to write. It grew, and grew, and grew... I guess you get the picture. There is next to nothing left of the original episode, apart from the basic premise, as the canon scenes in the EVA were a mess and the reactions of the others were too aloof. I replaced it all with more meaningful scenes. That, and a HUGE twist at the end.

After you've read the chapter **Please Review!** Please tell me your opinion. I promise to answer every review I get.

* * *

**Chapter 26: The Love of a Mother**

"It's impossible to imagine that Unit-01 used this way to attain an S² engine!" SEELE 04 said, while again watching the footage of the roaring Unit-01 on the screen.

"Yes, we hadn't thought of it as possible. This doesn't mesh well with our plans concerning the Tree of Life. Unit-01 is essential in our plans, and this change will make things unnecessarily complicated," SEELE 02 added.

"It was an error to entrust Gendo Ikari with NERV. See where it got us," SEELE 05 growled, quite angry.

Keel held up his hand, causing the other members of the inner circle to go quiet. "He was the only one available... But he must have planned this... What could he plan?"

"I must remind you that this isn't our only trouble, chairman. Four seriously damaged Evangelions, the geofront broken open like a can. This is an extremely expensive disaster that almost destroyed all our planning," SEELE 03 reminded Keel, going through the numbers on his desk-terminal. "Our man in NERV proved to be less useful than first thought."

Despite his visor, Keel looked thoughtful. "Granted, but without him, we would have only received Ikari's white-washed report and a fraction of the facts. He has his uses, even if he can't directly stop Ikari. We will decide next time on additional measures. If there is nothing else, this meeting is closed."

The holograms of the other members of the committee disappeared, leaving Keel alone. "I know you are here, Tabris."

Said albino boy appeared out of the darkness. "I guess you now know why my brother Zeruel was called 'the Angel of Might'. I wish I could have told him that this would be futile..." There seemed to be true grief in Tabris' voice, as if mourning.

Keel had seen him react like this several times, proving that he indeed was one of them. "Do you have anything constructive to add after again listening in?"

"No. I know your plan will never work, since Adam will prevent you from doing so, but I don't care if you waste your time with it. Only two of my siblings are left, then my time will come." That said, Tabris vanished into the darkness, leaving Keel alone.

A cruel smirk crept up Keel's features. _You don't know as much as you think you do... You have fulfilled your purpose, and we have no reason to stop you from going to your doom._

* * *

_...NERV-hospital, day 1..._

"Mmmnnggg..." Hikari Horaki felt lousy while the darkness around her slowly faded and feeling returned. Her last memory was of the Angel blasting her, then the pain had become too much. And speaking of pain, her stomach felt as if having a bad case of cramps. But at least it meant that she was still alive.

Opening her eyes, the first thing she saw were her parents looking down to her. This told her two things: first, she was in a bed, and second, her parents looked really concerned. "Mom...dad...?"

"Thank all goodness, you are finally awake!" Her mother looked close to tears, and that meant something. "We were so horribly scared when they said you are in the hospital. There was so much destruction..."

Mr. Horaki saw that he wife was about to cry in relief. She could be as tough as nails, but when her daughters were in peril, she became very emotional. Letting her lean on him for support, he continued. "You were unconscious for an entire day... And we did fear the worst after seeing the sheer destruction the last attack had caused."

Sitting up, Hikari felt as if her stomach was about to burst. "Urgh... Feels like a thousand needles in my stomach."

"The doctors say it's phantom pain. It will go away. Try to be strong, sweetie," her father said reassuringly, while holding on her shoulder.

Looking around, Hikari noticed Asuka sitting in another bed in the room. She was wide awake but had stayed silent up to now. And Hikari couldn't help but to notice that her arms seemed sort of stiff. "Asuka! What happened? Where are the others?"

"I don't know. The last thing I remember is that thing cutting off my EVA's arms, then everything went black... I woke up only minutes ago. But I think big, bad and ugly is history, otherwise we wouldn't be here now. So either Ayanami defeated it, or Shinji got his act together." She didn't feel like bringing her own opinion to word. That this Angel had defeated her so easy had been a harsh reminder of how fast life could end.

_That explains her arms... _"How do you feel?" She knew it was a stupid question with them in hospital, but she had no idea what else to ask.

Asuka tried to move her arms, but it was an almost comical movement that resulted. "Like my arms are made of wood. I can barely feel them right now. Guess my brain still thinks they were cut off. I better not ask you that question. You look like you could throw up any moment."

"Thanks for the reminder..." Holding a hand over her arching stomach, she hoped that she wouldn't do this. "I wish I knew where the others are."

"That can be helped."

Hearing this familiar voice, Hikari looked to the door to see Toji in a wheelchair, being wheeled in by his father. Her eyes widened when seeing the wheelchair, fearing the worst. "Toji... Please, no!"

Toji needed a second, before he understood that Hikari must think that he had lost use of his legs forever. "Hikari... P-please don't cry. This isn't permanent. I feel my legs, but they just don't work quite right yet... Please no tears," Toji begged her, wheeling to her bedside. He didn't want her to cry, it made him feel guilty that somehow he was at fault.

Hikari didn't cry much, she wasn't one of these girls that broke out into tears over almost everything. But right now the sheer relief was too much for her. "Stupid... That's because I'm so happy we are both still here... I thought we would die... regretted how much we hadn't done yet... Hold me and don't let go."

Toji didn't dare to deny her wish, and actually he really liked holding her in his arms, completely ignoring the audience. "Don't worry, I'll stay with you," he said reassuringly. Right now, he only wanted her to feel safe.

"I told you, the boy is all right. Saw it when meeting him the first time," Mr. Horaki whispered to his wife. She had not been thrilled by Hikari having Toji as a boyfriend. He felt that she was too overprotective of her. Hikari had a good sense of judgment.

Mrs. Horaki couldn't deny that Toji Suzuhara had surprised her. At first she had been quite hostile towards him, feeling that he was only one of these jocks that was as dumb as a bread; clearly a bad choice for Hikari. But he had surprised her first by not going along with the picture of the jock, and then by actually treating her daughter quite respectfully. And today she had to admit, that been hasty and wrong in her past judgment.

Walking to Hikari's parents, Mr. Suzuhara added: "You misjudged because the outside can be deceiving. My son might look careless and superficial on the first sight, but this isn't the true him. He is quite sensitive. He however doesn't want to show this to the outside world as he thinks everyone would laugh at him then."

Asuka looked at the two teenagers, feeling empty. She felt longing for having someone to hold on as Hikari did right now with Toji. She had become aware how alone she was. What she had felt as not needed, not useful with her feeling that all boys were below her and thus not worthy of her time. Now looking into the mirror of her soul, she knew that she had been scared to get too close to someone. Being left alone had reduced the fear of getting hurt. And now she cursed herself.

_Warum hatte ich das nur getan? (Why had I done it?) _she wondered, her own motivation for this now unclear to herself.

Everyone looked up, when the door opened, and a bed was wheeled in, a sleeping Rei in it. She didn't look too hot, quite a number of bandages visible. But compared to what she should have looked like after detonating the N², she looked surprisingly good.

Rei had been put into the LCL tank to accelerate her healing so that she wouldn't be burdened with lasting scars. After all she had received very serious third-degree burns. Dr. Akagi had done all of it herself, after 'accidentally' forgetting to receive Gendo's order to use the opportunity to terminate the second, and activate the third Rei.

"All right, that makes four. But where is Shinji?" Asuka wondered. After the carnage yesterday, she couldn't help but to worry a little where he was.

"They told me he is trapped." Everyone looked to the door, seeing a man in his late thirties enter. His huge height of over two meters made him look like a giant. "Oh, sorry, I forgot. I'm Kaldor Ikari, Shinji's uncle and the man who raised him."

The children had heard of the man, but hadn't actually met him, as his interactions had been only with Shinji, Rei, Mana and Misato. For the parents, this came a little as a surprise, they had thought that Shinji's father had mostly raised his son.

"What do you mean, he is trapped?" Toji wondered.

Kaldor hadn't understood most of the stuff himself, only what right now was hindering Shinji from being present had been pretty clear. "Major Katsuragi said that they are having trouble getting his cockpit open. Frankly, after what happened yesterday, that's no wonder." He remembered the horrible picture of that roaring nightmare. It was troubling to remember that Shinji was in that thing.

He only wanted them to finally get Shinji out of it. The boy really needed a long rest and friendly faces around him after that. And he would be damned if he would let some purple Godzilla-wannabe harm Shinji in any way.

* * *

_...at the same time..._

"Are you sure that we are safe?" Misato asked Lt. Hyuga, while looking at the totally changed Unit-01. Where armor had once been, meaning the head and most of the upper body, they had applied bandages to hide the newly-grown muscles of the EVA. Its core was still laid bare, but now it was red instead of orange. Heavy metal clamps held the Evangelion at bay.

"No electric activity, no heat. The S² is inactive. This means we do have it fully under control," Makoto told her, while looking at the monster Unit-01 had become. After roaring for minutes after eating the S² engine last day, it had simply toppled over like a puppet whose strings had been cut. It had been surprisingly easy to transport it to the cage, where it now was held like in a prison.

"Maybe, but it had moved on its own accord before, so this says nothing," Misato reminded him. She couldn't wait to finally get Shinji out of the entry plug. She knew that being trapped in there for over a day wasn't fun. Especially after what had happened yesterday.

Makoto could only agree. After what Unit-02 had done to the 12th Angel, this had been even worse. They would be foolish should they not be careful with it. "Yes, that's why we're not taking any risks. We should go to cage control, Dr. Akagi should be ready now to attempt and eject the plug."

However, some minutes later...

"Useless, Unit-01 isn't accepting the signal. It severed all connections. Not even the emergency signal works," Maya reported in resignation. Unit-01 really didn't want to part with its pilot, it seemed. "It is blocking all of our attempts."

"The only thing that still works is the internal camera. I'll put it on the screen," Lt. Hyuga added from his station. They had become quite frustrated with Unit-01 not doing as they wanted.

The inside of the entry plug appeared on the screen, and everyone gasped at what they saw. Or better, at what they didn't see. The plug was empty. Shinji was gone, his empty clothes floating in the LCL. And the computer stated the obvious, that the pilot had vanished with no trace. They had expected an almost comatose Shinji, but not something like that.

Misato looked horrified at the picture. "Ritsu... What happened to him?"

Ritsuko had read the old reports of what had happened all these years ago. But now to witness it with her own eyes... "It happened again. With a synch-ratio of over 400 percent, a pilot can't hold up against the Evangelion. The Evangelion took Shinji into itself."

"What do you mean with 'It happened again'?" Misato felt that Ritsuko knew more that she was telling her. Maybe she should ask Ryoji about it, her boyfriend probably had more information on it.

Ritsuko looked at the screen showing the empty entry plug. "I read about it in the files of Unit-01 when I took over after my mother's demise. A possible pilot had been tested for Unit-01 years ago. But something went wrong, the synch-ratio went to 400 percent, and she disappeared."

"Who was this pilot?" Misato asked her friend.

"Her name was Yui Ikari... she never returned."

Misato knew exactly who that was. She hadn't known how Shinji's mother had died, had felt that it wasn't any of her business. But if his mother had never returned from Unit-01, that meant... "Please tell me that you will try everything to get him back."

Ritsuko scratched her head, looking clueless on the screen. "But to do that, we first need to know what exactly had happened to him."

_Great Gods, what am I now supposed to tell Shinji's uncle? "Sorry, but the EVA ate him"? He will be devastated when I tell him what has happened! What the hell should I do now? _These thoughts went through Misato's head. Then she remembered something even worse. _Rei... How will she react, so soon after her last depression?_

Misato felt horrible right now.

* * *

_...inside Unit-01..._

"What is this?" No answer.

"Where am I?" Again, no answer.

Everything was swirling around Shinji like a dark vortex with him in the center. The movement made him sick in his stomach. He had no idea what had happened. The last memory was him screaming in his entry plug in desperation, while the Angel was busy with killing him. Then there was a blank in his memories, and he had abruptly found himself in this strange environment.

This vortex was causing him a headache. Holding his face in his hands, he only wanted this pain gone! And all of a sudden, it did stop. Carefully looking through his fingers, Shinji saw that the vortex had disappeared. Removing his hands he looked up... and froze in horror.

"Great Gods... no!"

He had forgotten the nightmare, had pushed the remaining memories into the darkest corner of his mind. But now it came all rushing back when confronted with the horrible sight. In a reddish twilight he saw the totally destroyed Tokyo-3, its inner city just a big hole, with the signs of a huge battle strewn all over the place. The nightmare had returned.

Letting out a scream of terror, Shinji ran away, only to be confronted with more of the nightmare. Unit-02 torn to pieces, a rotting, distorted head that resembled Rei, crucified Evangelions, himself choking Asuka. Naked fear gripped him when this nightmare didn't seem to end. And to make it worse, horrible pictures flashed before his eyes.

Misato, already bleeding to death, ripped in two by an explosion. Dr. Akagi, shot to death by his father. His father, bitten in half by Unit-01. Lt. Aoba, screaming when dozens of glowing Reis surrounded him. Asuka, screaming in her plug when her EVA was ripped apart. Rei, merging with a huge, white body into something horrible. And all people of the world looking horrified, before melting into orange goo. And over all of it, seven haunting eyes laughed in triumph when seeing the world in ruins.

"That's not real!... IT'S NOT TRUE!... NOOOOOOOOOO!" Shinji screamed in panic.

As if reacting to his scream, cracks appeared all over his surroundings. Then the world around him broke apart like a smashed window, the reflecting shards flying away into nothingness. The apocalyptic world around him was replaced with a very peaceful environment. A hill full of green grass, surrounded by dense forests, all under a clear blue sky with the warm sun greeting him and birds singing in the background. It helped to finally calm him down.

"Shinji?"

The voice of a woman from behind pulled him out of his surprise over the change of scene. He turned around... and quickly again looked away before even really seeing the woman in detail. He had realised that she was utterly naked, and he was blushing madly.

The woman was confused. Why had he turned away from her? Wasn't he happy to see her? _Why has he...? Oh, stupid me! All this time alone must have really made me oblivious to some things, like that I hadn't bothered to get dressed! _she scolded herself when realising what was wrong. And she was a little embarrassed at herself, before concentrating a little.

"It is now safe to look."

Again turning around, Shinji was relieved to see, that the woman now was wearing a simple housedress. But he stopped when seeing her face. It had aged somewhat, but he still clearly recognised her from the picture in his locket. "Mother?... Is... is this a dream?"

Yui Ikari knew that this had to be overwhelming for her son, to see her after so many years. She herself was also horribly nervous. She wanted to hug Shinji, hold him close. But she didn't want to scare him. With a gentle smile she told him: "This is no dream. I'm really here."

Shinji stood still for a second, then ran to her and hugged her. "Mom... I... I..." Feeling her starting to hold him, he stopped trying to say anything. He simply knew that it was really her, and he didn't want to know right now how this was possible. He had missed her so horribly.

Holding her son in her arms, Yui felt so proud of him. He had become such a wonderful young man. Seeing him start to cry, she knew it wasn't of sadness, but of his emotions overwhelming him. Her own tears followed shortly later as her emotional dam had broken as well, her heart jumping in joy. She knew he would have many questions, knew that he would get answers he wouldn't expect, hear of truths so unbelievable...

But this could wait for some time. For now mother and son only wanted to hold on each other.

* * *

_...NERV, day 3..._

"Ok... Now tell me this in simple Japanese. I didn't understand anything of it," Misato asked Ritsuko and Maya. The last days had really been hard for everyone. Unsure of whether Shinji was dead or still alive, Misato had trouble sleeping and it showed. Shinji's uncle had been shocked by the news. Shinji's friends were worried for him. And Rei... Rei had not been herself. She had become extremely emotionally fragile after hearing what had happened to Shinji. It was for the young girl, as if fate wanted to bring her nothing but grief.

Ritsuko knew that Misato wasn't feeling well. The aftermath of the Angel attack had been hard for all of them and Shinji's disappearance had really hurt Misato. She had become quite attached to him. "What I said is that we did find him, but not in the way you think. His body had been taken apart at the cellular level and stored in the core."

"The EVA... disassembled him?" The sheer idea was as unbelievable as it was fear-inspiring.

"We suspect that hitting the 400 percent mark collapsed his personal borderline, enabling the Evangelion to do so. But in this case, his soul got separated from his physical body in the process," Maya explained further. She had felt the depressed atmosphere in the last days. The other pilots, Major Katsuragi, and others... What had happened to Shinji had hurt them deeply. And she felt that after all that Shinji had done for them, they were obliged to do everything to get him out of there.

"It means that we have to create a plan to force the Evangelion to put Shinji back together and return his mind where it belongs to," Ritsuko concluded their simplified explanation.

So while Misato knew that Shinji in a way was still alive, it now created the big question if they could get him back. That didn't help her to find sleep at night. "Can you do it? I don't care what you have to do or what it will cost. I don't want to tell his uncle that he will never return."

Ritsuko took a step back when Misato said this. The sheer emotion she had put into these words were a clear message. A failure would be devastating. "With the help of the MAGI we probably can..."

"...do it in reasonable time," Ritsuko told the Commander a little later.

Gendo looked hard at her. Dr. Akagi hadn't replaced Rei, despite the great chance they had. She had said that she had been so busy that she had only received his orders after releasing Rei into the hospital. He knew better, and she was in serious danger of falling into disgrace with him. But unlike her mother, he had no way to replace her at this time, thus she would stay... for now.

"As long as it works, nothing else interests me," Gendo said, as if Shinji's life didn't mean much to him.

Dr. Akagi knew that it was a dismissal, and a thinly veiled threat not to bother him for the next few days. Her ignoring of his order to terminate the second Rei had been dangerous. Oh, she had hated Rei for taking so much of Gendo's attention. But with time and Rei growing on Shinji, away from Gendo and her developing something resembling a real personality, she had felt unable to sustain this hatred, its base gone. To see her as a real person, and not as a mere tool looking like a girl, that in the end had given her the push to let Rei live.

Watching Ritsuko leave, Fuyutsuki looked to Gendo. "What do you think is going on in Unit-01? That this happened again can't be a coincidence. What if your son actually makes contact with Yui?" he asked him.

"Whether he will get into contact with her or not, is not that important. He needs to be extracted so that Unit-01 can be used in the new plan. And I doubt that, even if she contacts him, it will have any negative effects. Most likely it will only strengthen his willingness to pilot the EVA," Gendo dryly explained. In his mind, it was easy: Shinji knowing of his mother in Unit-01 would only serve to make him very protective of it. Every other possibility was impossible, because this one HAD to be the right one.

Fuyutsuki wondered why Gendo thought that it would be like this. It seemed that Gendo was fleeing into wishful thinking, so that he wouldn't have to face the possible consequences of Shinji meeting with Yui's soul. Clear sign of a man who tried to erase the possible consequences from his mind before they would start to rob him his sleep.

He knew it was useless to ask Gendo any further about this, so he changed the topic. "The new plan. Are you really sure that it will actually work at all?" He hoped it wouldn't. He had no desire to see the world going into Armageddon because of Gendo's arrogance.

"Of course it will work, the MAGI said so to 99 percent. Now that Unit-01 has an S² engine, merging with Unit-00 while Rei pilots it with her own S² organ stimulated into activity with drugs, will cause both Evangelions, one of Lilith and one of Adam, to come to life and cause the same thing that we planned to do with Rei, Adam and Lilith," Gendo explained. After the loss of Adam, this plan was the best they had managed to construct.

Fuyutsuki knew what Gendo had meant with 'lock and key' a few days ago. The two Evangelions were the lock, and Rei the key. He really, really wished there was a way to stop Gendo from committing this madness, but he had no power over it. "And you do all of this just to be together with her... You are the most selfish man on this world for that you sacrifice everything for it. What would she think of you?"

"She would be proud that I think so highly of her." A little life returned to Gendo's eyes when thinking about how it would be to be together with her again.

Fuyutsuki knew it was useless. Gendo was a sharp thinker, but over time he had become more and more delusional concerning Yui. He had totally convinced himself that Yui would approve of what he had done. Only she herself could now bring him out of it. And actually, despite Gendo being the one who could probably bring doom over Earth, he pitied the man by now.

His obsession and longing for his wife revealed a broken man under the cold outer shell.

* * *

_...inside Unit-01..._

After a long, silent bonding, Shinji had finally let go of his mother, and now they sat in the grass. He still couldn't really believe it. He had thought she had died, had thought he would never see her again. And now here she was, sitting there. He felt like he had a thousand questions, but right now he barely managed a "H-how?"

Yui couldn't fault her son for having trouble articulating himself. This surely was so overwhelming for him. And now he would get all the answers. He deserved the truth. "The short answer is, I never actually died. You must know, when I created Unit-01, I never wanted to force children to pilot it. I foolishly thought I could do it as well. I was wrong... I was taken inside the EVA, as you are now."

Looking around, Shinji found this a little hard to believe. "Inside the EVA?... I... so many years?"

"I know this might sound unbelievable to you, but we are not really sitting here. Our bodies were taken apart and stored. Our souls need a frame of reference to hold on. So we created this here, so that our selves can manifest."

Shinji looked like he had a headache. "But I can feel you."

"In a way you did, when our souls entwined. This virtual reality makes everything feel real for us. But maybe I should start at the beginning. You will hear many things that will surprise you," Yui offered her son, seeing his confusion.

"Yes, I think this would be best."

Yui thought where to begin, then decided to start at Second Impact. "I think you know by your birthday, that I carried you inside me when Second Impact happened. Seeing all the destruction around us, I and your father wanted to create a better world for your generation. That, and we hoped to stop the plans of SEELE."

"SEELE?" Shinji wondered.

"I know it will sound corny for you. SEELE is a secret organisation. Gendo and I never really found out what their ultimate goal is, but it was they who gave your father the task to supervise the study on Adam, who was buried in Antarctica," Yui explained to her son. "Without a stroke of luck that called him away a day earlier, he wouldn't be here now. They had approached both of us and pretty much made it clear that should we not work for them, I wouldn't be able to carry you to term."

Shinji swallowed hard. The idea that he had been threatened with death even before his birth was scary. "And you never found out their ultimate goal?"

"Never. Maybe your father knows now..." Yui sighed. "You should know, he had been very different all those years ago. While he had his faults, he also had been a very nice and caring man. I wonder how he had fallen so deep after I vanished... Still, SEELE gave us new orders. They told us the Angels would attack us, now that Adam had exploded, and then they showed us another horror deep below what is now the geofront: Lilith."

"Lilith?" Shinji wondered.

"The second Angel. As much as the geofront is a fortress against the Angels, it is also a prison to hold her deep within at the lowest level, where she is nailed to a huge cross. They made it clear, should another Angel reach Lilith, the Third Impact would occur, essentially destroying all of mankind. We were scared; we wanted to make the world safe for you children. And so we started to create the Evangelions, using the remains of Adam... With one exception. Unit-01 is made of Lilith... It was hard work, but we wanted to ensure mankind's survival," Yui explained further. She saw that her son looked surprised when she mentioned what the Evangelions were made of.

"An Angel. All the time under my feet." Shinji shook his head. The idea was sickening. And the mere idea that the Evangelions were made from their enemies... Then he looked to his mother. "And then you were...sucked in?"

"A little awkward description, but essentially this happened... At first I myself had no idea what had happened, but now I know. Our souls got separated from our bodies, which were taken apart and stored away. Right now, we are ghosts," Yui told Shinji.

Shinji needed to process this. Right now he was only a spirit, his body taken apart. Looking back to his mom, he noticed something. "Uh...don't take this personally. But you look older."

Yui laughed a little. "No, I don't take offense. Despite being taken apart, our bodies still age. Time can't be betrayed, it moves on, regardless where. This is what I will look like should I return to reality right now."

Shinji really had to process all this. It was so surreal. An Angel under his feet, secret organisations, 'creative' usage of their enemies, and his mother pretty much alive in a way. Thankfully his mother seemed to sense his confusion and gave him some space. "All this time you were so close to me and I didn't know. And now you are here before me..."

Of course that meant that some more mother-son bonding followed.

* * *

_...Tokyo-3 school, day 12_

The mood in class 2-A was very bad. They had no idea what had happened, only that it had something to do with the last battle. Shinji still hadn't returned to school, and the rumor was, that he had been seriously wounded. The other pilots all looked seriously depressed, with Rei being a total mess. Rei Ayanami, the girl who screamed control and perfection, looked like she was going through a major crisis.

Rei's long hair looked as if she hadn't tended to it in days, she looked tired as if she wasn't sleeping well, and she looked so utterly down, as if the world had collapsed for her. Everyone was greatly disturbed at how she had fallen apart. It was made worse that sometimes her emotional control seemed to totally evaporate and she snapped at people who dared to speak to her. It was as if something had hurt her so bad that Rei Ayanami was totally unlike herself.

The other pilots fared better, but not by much. Toji had been lethargic and the P.E. teacher had to except him from the training, as he saw that Toji's heart wasn't in it right now. Hikari had decided to let her position as the class representative rest for some time, because she had declared that right now she couldn't put the energy into it. And while Asuka was the least affected, she still seemed to feel guilty for something, some hearing something in the lines of an 'it should have been me' survivor's guilt.

It seemed that the shared pain made Toji and Hikari grow closer while they supported each other. Rei and Asuka didn't have this luxury. By now everyone knew that Rei had been very close to Shinji, so they guessed that his sudden disappearance had hit her especially hard. Asuka, they didn't understand. She was a hard to understand girl, especially after her arrogance had fallen off her.

Mana Kirishima knew the truth, and she had told it her friends Kensuke and Mayumi under the strict condition to not tell it anyone else. Something horrible had happened to Shinji and it was unclear if he could be rescued from death.

"Gods, this mess is starting to tear us apart. I can only pray that Shinji can be rescued, or we are in serious trouble," Mana groaned, when seeing her pilot-friends in their totally black mood. Of course she also didn't feel so hot, but by far not as bad as the Evangelion pilots. And of course she also hoped that her friend would be returned to them.

"That sucks." Whatever remnants of Kensuke's wish to pilot an EVA had been left, now at the latest they were buried. To imagine getting _eaten_ by it while piloting it! No, he wasn't suicidal. Not even ten horses would now get him into one of these things. "Toji is a mess, and I actually wish Hikari and Asuka would scream at me, if only to show me that they can still do that. And Rei is scary with her snapping at people when her control slips."

"I still have trouble wrapping my mind around the concept of what had happened to him," Mayumi openly admitted, while suppressing a small wince. In the last days, from time to time her mid-section stung, despite her taking her regular shots. She had no idea what it meant, but hoped that it wouldn't mean what she feared it could mean; namely that the shots started to lose their power. "It sounds like a bad horror movie."

"Trust me, that's quite real. I've seen it myself." She hadn't believed Misato, until she had been shown the camera feed from inside the plug. "I really wonder how it came so far. It went all downhill the day I nearly got killed."

Kensuke really didn't want to be reminded of that day. Nearly getting killed had scared the living daylights out of him and finally convinced him to stay far away from Evangelions. "To be frank... I miss that time where we were so carefree. I only want things to finally return to normal. I want to do things with my friends that everyone does, and not wither away in this pit of depression around me."

"We must be cursed," Mayumi thought aloud, while cleaning her glasses. She enjoyed finally having something resembling real friendship, even though she knew it wouldn't last. She had no idea, why, but she had the bad feeling that her time in Tokyo-3 was slowly coming to an end. If her friends could see the huge amounts of guilt, shame and helplessness burdening her, they would wonder why she hadn't collapsed yet.

It was because of her one friend she didn't spy on. Kensuke wasn't a pilot, and thus not included in her orders. The idea that she had at least one friend that was safe from her forced treachery was helping her to remind herself, that she wasn't a bad person. That, and the bespectacled boy had grown on her. He surely was very nice and...

Her thoughts were interrupted, when Mana spoke again. "I hate being so helpless. Even if we try to make them feel better, it would be useless as long as Shinji's fate is uncertain."

"Yeah, especially Rei. I'm not good with other people, but looking at her, the only thing that would make her feel better is him returning," Kensuke added.

All three of them let out a sigh of frustration. Mana and Kensuke, because they felt so helpless in this situation, which was totally out of their reach. And Mayumi because of this, and the fact that she was forced to report how badly her friends fared, which only made her feel worse.

* * *

_...inside Unit-01..._

Shinji felt that he acted like a little child, but he didn't care. He hadn't seen his mother in eleven years, so no one could fault him for these strong displays of affection after finally being re-united with her. Growing up without her, he had missed her so much. So it was no wonder he wanted to make up for lost time. After another round of hugging and shared emotions, he had his mother explain everything again, so that he would really get it, as some of it was hard to swallow.

Only with that done, he asked her: "Uh, mom. If you were in here all the time, how can you know what's going on outside?"

"I never said I was totally cut off, did I?" she told Shinji with a gentle smile. "I wouldn't dare to say that I can control the Evangelion. That would be wrong and arrogant. But from time to time I can manage to force it into action. It acts as my eyes and ears as well."

Shinji remembered his first day at NERV. "It was you! You saved Rei and me from getting crushed by the debris! I... and you ripped the Angel apart?"

"You are partly right. I wrestled control to save you, but all this destruction doesn't come from me. You should know, the EVA has a will of its own. A really bloodthirsty one at that. I'm actually here to pacify it, let it sleep. But should I release it from its chain..." Yui felt she didn't need to explain this fact further. "I was always with you, whenever you piloted."

Shinji's eyes widened when all of a sudden everything became clear. "Whenever I felt someone praising me, giving me confidence, making me feel safe and loved, giving me strength..."

"It was my foolishness that resulted in you growing up without me. I wanted to atone for my guilt, and so I tried to be always there for you, whenever you piloted." Yui looked away, feeling guilty for having gambled away a normal life for her son.

Covering the few steps distance between them, Shinji comforted his mother, gently holding her. "No... please, no guilt. You wanted to protect me, helped me so much. Even if you did wrong, you more than made up for it..."

Yui remained some longer in his embrace, before she had calmed down enough to continue her story. "You've grown into such a wonderful young man... I wish I could tell my brother how well he did with you." Seeing Shinji's surprise, she guessed what he was thinking right now. "You were my window into the world. Whenever you piloted, I saw and heard everything you did. And I... ahem... heard your thoughts."

"MOM!" Shinji looked horrified.

"Only your surface thoughts! I respected your privacy and never went deeper!" she hastily assured him. She knew the mere idea of her knowing what he thought must be horribly embarrassing for him. "I saw how much you feel for Rei. You couldn't have picked a nicer girl."

Shinji became beet-red. "Um... thanks. She means a lot to me."

"She has her own secrets, but it isn't my place to tell them. But rest assured, she loves you with her whole heart." Yui didn't want to tell her son how she had breached the girl's privacy when trying to make sure that it was her and not another dummy plug. It was too shameful. "I couldn't believe that your father would use her as a bargaining chip against you. I was shocked when I saw how much he had changed."

"I have no memory of him being different. I was too young when you vanished." Shinji really hadn't any different memories, he only knew Gendo as cold and uncaring.

"He was different... What I saw over time, how much he had changed to the worse. And when he did that to you... with that horrible auto-pilot. At first I was confused. And then... I became so angry. So damn angry. My sheer anger destroyed that thing. Gods, if I only could confront Gendo, I would slap him left and right for it!"

Shinji was surprised at how angry his mother had become when remembering the incident. "You saved Mana. I can't thank you enough."

"Every life is precious. I can't allow Gendo to sacrifice someone. I wish I could knock some sense into his hard head..." Yui obviously didn't want to talk about Gendo any longer, so she remembered how Shinji came here. "When the Angel tried to kill you, I felt your fear. And I did the most desperate thing, I let the beast loose. It wanted to consume you, but I pulled you to safety."

"What was this... this nightmare I landed into?" Shinji wondered. It had disturbed him to no end.

"Pictures of what could have been. Echoes of what could be. I myself have no idea what exactly it is. I see it as a warning of what could happen, should we fail." Yui had felt her son's fear, and she knew he was greatly disturbed by these pictures.

And she knew he had good reason to be afraid.

* * *

_...apartment block 7-F, day 19..._

Looking out of the window, Kaldor Ikari saw that it was a rainy day, the sky over Tokyo-3 covered in grey clouds. It fit with the building in which he was staying right now. A huge concrete monster with no personality at all. It was the best Major Katsuragi managed to get for him. There was some crime in the area, but they all avoided him after the first junkie who had tried to rob him had ended up bruised and battered on the sidewalk, waiting for the police to pick him up.

Kaldor felt the effects of restless nights weighting on him. He was gravely concerned about the boy who practically was his son. The mere idea that this huge Frankenstein-monster had... had eaten him alive made his neck hairs stand up. And no one knew if Shinji was now dead or still alive. It was this uncertainness that was wearing him down. He couldn't fully hope for his return, neither could he mourn for him.

The worst moment was, when he had accidentally met Gendo.

The man had been so cold, so aloof, Kaldor felt at once that practically he didn't care at all if Shinji would return or not. Kaldor really had to force himself not to beat up the man right at that moment. He wondered what Yui had seen in this piece of trash. He had cautioned his sister not to get involved with a man who was also known as a bar brawler, but she had ignored his warnings. In the end, Shinji was the only good thing coming out of it.

And now he could be gone forever.

Sure, they said they were working on getting him back, but Kaldor still felt like he had failed his sister in the task of keeping her son safe. _Yui, regardless where you are right now... I failed you..._

* * *

_...Misato's apartment, day 24..._

After over three weeks of Shinji's fate still uncertain, Misato's nerves started to get thin. Everyone close to Shinji was still suffering, unable to go on as long as it wasn't clear if he would return, or not. The children did their daily life almost on auto-pilot. Toji and Hikari tried to help each other to get through this difficult time. Asuka was crashing at Hikari's for the time being, stating she couldn't any longer stay at her place without getting a crisis. And Rei, Rei had been hurt the worst.

After having a short fuse, it seemed that the emotion in her had mostly burnt out, and she had erected a wall between herself and everyone else. She had stopped talking, and acted a lot like the Rei from before Shinji's arrival (although this time much more apt at living). But Misato wasn't fooled. When entering Rei's apartment one evening to check on the girl, she had heard her crying herself to sleep. The girl was hurting a lot and had little idea how to deal with it.

Misato knew, without Shinji returning, the grief would eat Rei alive.

But she herself also didn't fare well. Right at the moment, Ryoji Kaji was holding her in a quiet moment. And she needed it. Over three weeks of this uncertainness had worn her down. Ryoji's line of work had hardened him, but of course he also wasn't totally unaffected. Still, she had found him to be the one she could hold on to in this time of trouble.

"It's scary... Everything had gone so well. Everyone was more or less alright... And now the children are a mess, my co-workers are walking on eggshells and I... I feel miserable," Misato whispered to her boyfriend, not caring if she looked weak right now because she did feel burnt out and drained right now.

"We don't know what we have of someone until they are gone... We took him for granted," Ryoji gently said, while stoking Misato's hair. His buddies at the secret service would laugh should they see him now. 'Macho-Kaji' showing such a sensitive side. But he didn't care. He had changed since mending things with Misato. No, the change already had started when he found that the world was threatened by SEELE so long ago. But Misato had been the one to motivate him to drop the act.

"You know, he has grown on us. I got so used to having him around," Ryoji said further, looking at Misato holding her cross pendant in her hand.

"You know... I never thought it would happen to me," she calmly explained, touching the cross. "When Second Impact happened, I was filled with hate. I wanted to destroy the Angels and so in the end I reached where I am now... But now that most of them are destroyed, I don't feel any fulfillment coming from it. I thought it would give me peace to see them die one after the other, and yet I feel empty..."

Misato let out a short, ironic laugh. "I literally sacrificed all other aspects of life, acted like a shallow slob relying on instant food, into my tunnel vision... Gods, I was pathetic... And now, now I realise that in the meantime I came to care so much for the children... I wanted destruction and found fulfillment in caring for others. What an irony..."

Ryoji had silently listened to Misato being so hard on herself. "Life is never linear... And we both have skeletons in our closet. I never told you of my past. You must know, after Second Impact, I and my younger brother were orphaned and together with other children we stole to survive the chaos. One day, soldiers caught me when I tried to steal food from one of their warehouses. They threatened to kill me should I not reveal our hideout. I gave in, and my brother and my friends were killed before my eyes while they called me a traitor..."

"Great gods, Ryoji..." Misato hadn't known this. He had never spoken about his past, as if he was ashamed of it. Now she knew, why.

Ryoji looked haunted by the memory. "I never forgot it. Even now, the guilt keeps me awake some nights. I knew I could never make up for it, so I decided to start working for the government, hoping that I can contribute to prevent something like that from happening again."

Misato didn't say anything but held closer to him, comforting him after this confession of his past, which had been undoubtedly hard for him. They were both not perfect. Watching the sunset over Tokyo-3 through the big window of the living room, they enjoyed each other's presence.

And together they held the hope that in some days they could recover the one whom the world had lost.

Looking at these two, Pen-Pen concluded that he wouldn't get any fish for some time. Muttering a dejected "wark", he walked back to his fridge, hoping that he would have enough patience, before he would announce himself.

* * *

_...day 30..._

In the month since it had run amok, the outside of Unit-01 had been totally rebuilt, new armor covering it, only the core still exposed. But they were unable to repair the inside, until they were able to remove the plug, meaning to get Shinji out of there. Repairing five Evangelions, preparing Unit-01 for getting the pilot back, this all had cost the personnel of NERV much strength.

"You look tired, Sempai," Maya remarked, while they did the last preparations.

"I didn't get much sleep. I had to use old data to create the plan. Even with the MAGI, it still took me almost a month. Together with all the repairs, I haven't found much rest." Ritsuko didn't want to say how tired she actually felt. She had had spent almost all her energy.

Maya again wondered where the woman got all the energy. That was one of the reasons she admired Dr. Akagi. "We can start in a minute."

Ritsuko looked up to the command level. She had no idea why the Commander was even present. The Vice-Commander she understood, he actually was concerned about the pilots. But Gendo? It wasn't that he cared for his son, right? She guessed he was only present to see, if Unit-01 wasn't damaged.

_Cold hearted bastard. _Yep, Ritsuko's relationship with Gendo had quite cooled down.

Misato wasn't on the bridge. She and the children were down in the cage, since should the EVA release Shinji, he would need someone down there, at least until the medics could reach him. They were connected to the main bridge over a separate channel on the screen. Misato looked worse for the wear, and quite nervous.

On a hand sign from Maya, Ritsuko looked to Misato. "We are ready to start."

"Proceed," was the only thing Misato said.

o

"...if he is like this, then..." Shinji stopped, when he started to feel lightheaded. "I feel so strange... I feel like I could fly." Looking down he noticed that he was indeed hovering a little over the ground. "Mom, what is going on?"

"Your friends are bringing you back to the real world. Your soul starts to get pulled to your body," Yui gently explained to him.

"And what happens to you?"

Yui looked down, not wanting to see her son's disappointment. "I will stay here. There is nothing that can help me to get free as well."

Shinji felt himself getting lighter with each second, starting to hover. And right at this moment, he made a decision. "No... I won't lose you for a second time!" And before Yui could react, Shinji held her in a tight embrace. So tight, that she was unable to slip out of it, and she felt herself getting pulled along with him.

"Shinji! What are you doing?" She knew it couldn't work.

"I will take you with me! And I don't care if the EVA doesn't want it," he told her determined, while he started flying towards the sky, pulling her along. With each second, he became faster, holding on his mother as if his life depended on it.

"Shinji..." she tried to reason with him, while the sky around them shattered, and they flew through a fantastic world of light.

"I won't leave you..."

o

"Everything is going according to plan. Phase at... Wait!" Maya checked her screens to confirm what was going on. "Sempai, we register Shinji's signature. But... there is a second signal appearing. As if someone else is also in there."

"Specify!"

Everyone looked up to the command level. It had come as a total surprise that the Commander had reacted so emotional. And he looked tense, as if this news had hit him totally unprepared. Maya quickly looked back on her screen. "The other signal is weaker. It is moving together with the pilot and they are partially entwined. We have no more data, but this is definitely a human signal."

Gendo had expected many things, but this... They had tried everything to get her out of this monster, however with no success at all. With the years he had come to the only conclusion: that only a special Third Impact would bring them back together. But now, out of nowhere and all of a sudden, this opportunity had opened up. Gendo was totally unprepared for this, being now so much closer to recover her than in all these years before.

Fuyutsuki watched Gendo with interest. All of the calmness had fallen off Gendo when he had heard this news. _Looks like your son is good for more surprises than you want to admit... _

He himself was surprised at this twist, hadn't thought that something like this could actually happen. "You know what this could mean," he told Gendo, trying to stay calm.

Gendo knew. And he was determined not to let this opportunity slip away. If he could get her back NOW, he wouldn't give a damn about the other plans. He had real trouble to control himself. Being suddenly so close to regaining her was causing his control to slip after so many years.

"Extract this one as well!" He commanded them in a voice that was totally uncommon for him. "Don't think! Do it!"

This emotional outburst from the Commander had quieted any protest that this was a delicate operation. They only hoped that his decision wouldn't totally screw up everything.

o

"I can feel it, we are almost there!" Shinji gasped in sheer awe at the beauty of the place they were flying through right now. A world of clearest crystal, sky as blue as Rei's hair.

Yui by now had given up on convincing her son that she couldn't go with him. He would see the truth soon enough. In all her time inside the Evangelion she had learned a lot about its nature. And one of these facts was that it wouldn't let her go. It needed her.

"There!" Hearing Shinji's excited voice, Yui looked up to see as sort of huge one-way mirror in front of them, looking into the Evangelion cage. "This is our way out of here!" But to his surprise, he slowed down, and when they reached the mirror, they were unable to pass. "What the...?"

She knew that this would happen. "This is what I wanted to tell you. The Evangelion doesn't want to let me go. It needs me. Without me, it can't move at all."

Shinji looked horrified. He didn't want to leave his mother at this place.

o

"Something is wrong!"

"There is signal feedback! The Evangelion..."

In the cage Misato and the children looked in horror, when all of a sudden the entry plug was half ejected and the emergency hatch blown off, followed by a flood of LCL and Shinji's empty clothing pouring out. They felt like this purple monster was laughing at them for destroying their hopes.

"You damn monster!" Misato screamed at the Evangelion, tears filling her eyes. "Return him to us!"

o

"...they need you. Only you can now bring back their happiness. Please, leave me. I will always be with you, my son," Yui gently told Shinji.

Shinji felt torn. He saw Misato crying. His friends looked downcast. And Rei looked as if right now every emotion was dying in her. He wanted to be with his mother... but he would be egotistical to sacrifice their happiness for his, especially since she wanted him to return. "One day... I will get you out of here. I promise." One last hug, then Shinji let go, and drifted into the mirror, fading away.

Yui looked after him. "Farewell, my son..." She now only waited for the EVA to return her to the place where she had been for so long. However, nothing happened.

Instead she felt as if someone tickled her in a most wonderful way, while everything around her started to glow white. "What is this?" Then she surrendered to it. "I feel so wonderful..."

Then everything vanished in blinding white.

o

They stepped back, when from one second to the other, the core of Unit-01 started to glow a bright red. Before their eyes the surface of the core seemed to turn liquid, ripples going over it. They had never seen something like this before. A black shadow seemed to grow in the core, and then...

**-spllaashh-**

In a gush of LCL, a very naked Shinji was ejected from the core, landing ten meters away from them on the catwalk, while the core stopped glowing, returning to its hardened state. Shinji groaned, was disoriented and felt really weak. Having his body put back together did this to him. Coughing he tried to stand himself up from the cold metal, albeit with little success.

Rei was the first to get over the surprise. Dashing to Shinji as if her life depended on it, she pulled him into a tight hug, not wanting to let go of him. "Shinji..." All her emotions were like a thunderstorm, her heart hammering when holding him. It had been the worst month of her entire life, she had suffered horribly. She had lived through the true meaning of despair. And now he had returned to her.

She didn't want to let go of him, fearing he could disappear. For now her emotional control was totally gone.

"Rei..." Shinji could feel how happy the girl was. As if every worry had fallen off her. He was still half blind and horribly weak from the physical shock his body had went through, but Rei's closeness was calming for him.

Misato held the other children back, her intention clear. This was their moment. Rei had suffered the worst, so they now would let her have this moment, while her emotions poured out of her. Misato could almost see the big red heart hovering over these two. It was plainly clear that these two were made for each other.

Only when the medics arrived with a gurney, Rei let go of Shinji, who, after getting wrapped into a blanket, was wheeled away, Rei following. No way would she let him out of sight again. A fear she didn't understand made her do it.

The others also felt all the hardships of the previous moth falling off them. They turned to leave... when all of a sudden Unit-01 seemed to cramp, starting to howl as if in pain!

o

The relief on the bridge had been short-lived. The tension had been gone with the pilot's return in one piece. But all of a sudden Unit-01 had acted up, and all instruments had gone haywire, causing the whole crew to go into an attempt to find out what was wrong.

"Report!" Fuyutsuki called, since Gendo wasn't right now in the shape to give orders, with Yui again out of his reach.

"We do not know what's going on! All instruments are failing in detecting the cause!" Maya reported, while busily trying to stop her control station from burning out due to electric stress.

Then, as fast as it had begun, it was over, and Unit-01 seemed silent again. But then Lt. Aoba noticed something on his station. "Sir, we are receiving strange signals from Unit-01. It... wait, it has linked itself with the main screen on its own." At first there was only static on the big screen. Then it was replaced by en endless binary code of 1 and 0.

"Sempai, what is this?" Maya asked Ritsuko.

Ritsuko studied the code. "I have no idea. It is complex to no end, and yet totally chaotic, changing all the time. It follows no logic, so I have no idea what this is supposed to represent."

The numbers vanished from the screen, as if blown away by strong winds. And in the blackness that replaced them, white, glowing lines formed the face of a beautiful woman. Her eyes were closed, as if she was sleeping. Most of them had no idea what this meant. All but three.

Ritsuko wondered how this was possible. Fuyutsuki wondered, too, but he was also fascinated. Gendo had lost all of his cool when seeing this. Despite her face being drawn of white lines, she was easily recognisable. His emotions threatening to turn to chaos, he said her name aloud.

"Yui..."

_**to be continued...**_

_**Next Episode:**_

_**"An Angel with blue Hair"**_


	28. An Angel with blue Hair

I will say these things in advance: I have absolutely no rights to NGE, but you should have already known that.

The story itself is basically a re-telling of the original storyline, but twisted into my way. While at the beginning there seem to be only few deviances, it will become more with each episode. The people, their motivations and the backgrounds are while holding true to the basic layout, changed at my imagination in many details, so canon-purists now are allowed to flame me.

NOTE: I hate both, the ending of the TV series, and how End of Evangelion turned out. So don't expect either of those outcomes.

This is Shinji/Rei. All you Rei/Shinji worshippers, here finally is the chapter where they do the deed. However, since this site doesn't allow NC-17 stuff, I had to cut the long love scene**. But look in my bio to find the link with the complete scene. **Of course you can still comment on the full scene in your reviews.

After you've read the chapter **Please Review!** Please tell me your opinion. I promise to answer every review I get.

* * *

**Chapter 27: An Angel with blue Hair**

"Yui..." Gendo had no idea what was going on right now, only that he was unable to repress his emotions. The picture of his wife's face on the main screen had caught him totally unprepared and he didn't know what to do. He didn't even know what this meant, only that it was throwing him in spiritual chaos.

Right then, Yui's picture opened her eyes. She looked around, as if unsure herself where she was right now. "Unbelievable... I'm still here. Yet I see and hear everything with a clarity I've never experienced since that day..."

For Yui, it was a wonderful feeling. It was as if her mind had expanded, giving her more control of the Evangelion. She felt like her virtual body was floating in a pool of warm nectar, while her mind had went to a level in her prison, where she now had no trouble at all to connect with the outside world. After being alone for so long, apart from Shinji visiting her in that void, it was more than she had dared to hope for. She hadn't yet fully realised how far her newfound freedom reached, but right now she was as happy as a child who got a candy bar. Right now she didn't care how exactly this had happened.

Everyone was silent in amazement. They had no idea who or what that was, but something like this wasn't supposed to happen at all.

Disturbed, Gendo made some steps forward, to the railing of the command level, looking at the picture. Despite being drawn of white lines, Yui's face had an extremely realistic body language. After the first shock, he found his voice. "Yui... Is this really you?"

Obviously she heard him, because all of a sudden she looked directly towards him, her happiness evaporating instantly and some of the bridge personnel could have sworn that the temperature had dropped several degrees. "Gendo..." She also didn't sound amused.

That was enough for Gendo to see that this really was his wife. He did recognise the glare she gave him as it was the same she had used several times when she was really pissed off at something or someone. But he wondered why she was angry, ignoring the obvious. "Yui? W-what is wrong, why are you angry?"

The only thing it did was to really ignite her anger now. She looked at him as if he had lost his mind. "I think I haven't heard right! Gendo Ikari, I know what you did to our son! How could you?"

"Y-you understand that I had to do it!" He tried to explain, although it sounded more like a defense. His well-sorted world view was starting to get cracks with Yui being so angry at him.

"Oh, no! I DON'T understand!" Yui snapped, stopping him from saying anymore. "You left him, scarred him and hurt him in ways I wouldn't have though possible! Don't even try to excuse yourself! What happened to the man I married? I don't recognise you. Your cruelty is breaking my heart."

Gendo couldn't believe what he was hearing from his wife. Why wasn't she happy for all the things he had done for her? The cold reality started to invade his fantasy world of her being grateful for all he did. "Yui please... I... I did it for you."

Her furious look made him shut up. Right at this moment he knew that he had enraged her even more. And indeed, all the pent up anger in Yui now spilled out of her like a tidal wave. "For me? FOR ME? I'm ashamed that you did all these things to Shinji in my name! And not only him! Rei, the poor girl you treated so bad that you almost destroyed her! Mana, who almost died! The other children who had suffered under you! And I wanted to create a safer world with EVA, not endanger it! You destroyed everything I fought for!" she screamed, everyone's ears ringing from the sheer volume that shot out of all speakers on the bridge.

Gendo's world was by now collapsing. Everything he had pushed aside as a necessary evil to help Yui, who in his mind of course would be thankful, came back to weight on him, reminding him of the consequences he had considered necessary before. "Yui... I did it because I l..." he didn't manage to finish when Yui interrupted him.

"No, don't say it!" she snapped. "Because right now I won't believe you! That's not love, that's obsession! If you really love me, you would have given our son this love all these years... You heart has gone cold. What happened to you? I'm too angry and saddened to speak anymore with you. Think about what you have done. The man who I love would have never done all these horrible things..."

Gendo was speechless.

"I have nothing more to say to you until you redeem yourself." Yui then cut the connection, static replacing her on the screen.

Gendo stood still for some seconds. Then he turned, and fled the bridge, literally running away. Everyone was silent, until a voice broke through.

"What the hell was that?" Misato asked, having reached the bridge in time to witness the whole exchange. She had the feeling that something big was going on and hated to be in the dark.

Lt. Aoba was the first to answer. "After all we know, we just witnessed the Commander having some serious marital troubles."

Vice-Commander Fuyutsuki knew what had happened after he got over the surprise. Yui's soul somehow had managed to regain access to the outside world. He had a feeling that young Ikari had a hand in this. And as he had predicted, Yui had literally demolished Gendo for everything he had done. He wondered how Gendo would react now.

Said man was entering his Spartan quarters. He felt like falling into a huge, dark void. Everything in the last ten years he did with the unbreakable idea that Yui would love him for doing so much to help her. And now... now she had exploded into his face, doing the exact opposite of what he had envisioned, cursing him for his actions. And with it, the foundations that held him alive were pulled away, leaving him with nothing at all.

_Why...? _he again wondered. His very purpose had crumbled away, throwing him into total emotional chaos. The controlled, cool man of ten years was utterly destroyed when the lies he had told himself were destroyed, leaving a mental wreck in his place.

And then he felt that now there was nothing left for him, and he did what he wouldn't have done only days ago.

* * *

_...office of the Vice-Commander..._

Sitting in his office, Kozo Fuyutsuki sighed. After giving all necessary orders, he had retreated into the safe territory of his office to let all that had happened go through his head. Unit-01 was now silent, and they hadn't heard anything else from Yui. Dr. Akagi wasn't sure what had happened, but speculated that extracting Shinji had somehow taken Yui partly along for the ride, resulting in her getting "closer to the surface," enabling her to re-establish contact with the outside world. But Dr. Akagi was still wondering about the "how." Everyone who didn't know about Yui was confused as hell and Fuyutsuki felt a headache coming up when remembering that he had to explain this mess. And he really hoped that SEELE wouldn't get wind of it, so he would need order the bridge crew to total silence about this matter to ensure this.

He also again wondered how Gendo would react. The man had built the last ten years of his life around the lie that Yui would be grateful and understanding of his actions. It had become especially bad in the last months. Now that Yui had smashed this shell of lies, he had no idea how Gendo would react.

_There is so much I don't know. But I do know that after today, things will never be as they were before... _he thought, hoping that Gendo wouldn't do something irrational.

"Professor?"

Looking to his computer screen, he saw Yui's face on it. _Of course, stupid me. It's connected to the mainframe, and therefore Unit-01 can connect to it. _Collecting himself, he hoped that Yui would be now in a better mood. "Dr. Akagi is still wondering how it is possible for you to appear like this," he remarked, knowing that pleasantries weren't what she wanted right now.

"I wonder myself. We will probably never understand. When Shinji started to return to the real world, he tried to take me with him. Of course it didn't work... but I gained more control." Yui then looked serious. "I told Shinji everything. And you can't hold the truth from the other children for much longer, now that he knows."

Kozo sighed. Now they had this problem as well. "Yui, your honesty is your greatest virtue and weakness at the same time."

"Sorry Professor, but in my opinion the children deserve the truth after everything that happened." Yui's voice made clear that she wouldn't back off this demand. "After all, they were supposed to know after reaching a certain age... What happened to Gendo to make him throw away all the plans we made?"

"I fear only he himself can answer that. If he is in any shape to answer, you really turned him upside-down." During the years he knew her, he had never seen her losing her cool like this.

Yui looked somewhat embarrassed. "He made me so angry. I couldn't believe at first, that he had done all these horrible things. I really forgot myself. But he DID deserve it, and I won't move a millimeter until he learns from this!"

If there was any doubt that this was Yui, now at the latest it would be gone. While Yui was known to have a big heart and friendly personality, she also could be extremely stubborn and pity on the person who would manage to piss her off.

"What had my fool of a husband planned? And do you know what SEELE plans?" She left no doubt that she finally wanted answers.

Kozo wondered if he should tell her. He would get into serious trouble if he did. But then again, Gendo's own plans had practically collapsed like a house of cards, and his sheer disgust at SEELE's plans and the opportunity to finally follow his conscience won in the end. "Gendo planned to initiate a controlled Third Impact to force mankind to melt into one, so that he would be re-united with you."

"That selfish bastard. Too bad that I don't have hands right now, or I would personally strangle him!" Yui hissed, before trying to get herself under control. "He wanted to destroy everyone's happiness just to get me back? He hadn't understood anything. Oh, we will have a long talk..."

Fuyutsuki didn't doubt that and he pitied Gendo. "SEELE's plans are mostly unknown to me. I only know that they also want to create Third Impact, to make themselves Gods over a united mankind."

"Megalomania of the most dangerous kind..." Yui felt sick when hearing that. "Oh yes, my dear husband will answer many questions..."

"You know, it has been a long time since we last spoke," Fuyutsuki remarked.

Yui had trusted her instinct that Professor Fuyutsuki hadn't turned out like Gendo, and she had been right. He had always been level-headed and closer to other people. "Too long. And there is so much that happened. There is much we have to speak about, and things that will finally put the puzzle together..."

* * *

_...two hours later..._

Walking down the corridor to Gendo's quarters, Fuyutsuki thought about what he had learned from Yui.

She had basically told him everything, especially the secrets of SEELE, the Evangelions, Lilith, Third Impact. He didn't doubt that Shinji wouldn't stay silent about this. After they were finally done with talking, Yui had thanked him for keeping his humanity and honor intact, even under these difficult conditions.

_If she only knew the one secret we keep from Dr. Akagi... And Akagi herself gets more suspicious with each day. We can't hold it from her for much longer. But how will she react once she knows the truth? Will she leave us for good? _Fuyutsuki pondered.

Hard decisions had to be made, and that meant he had to get Gendo to make a decision. Decisions about finally telling the truth, now that the cat was out of the bag anyway. Hopefully Gendo wouldn't make things only worse than they already were. And right now he had no idea how he would react, after Yui had verbally given him the smackdown.

Arriving at the door, he knocked. Nothing. He knocked louder. Still nothing. "Commander?" ... "Ikari?" ... The silence started to disturb him. Checking the door, he found it unlocked. Entering, he was greeted by a strong smell. And then he saw...

"Oh my God."

* * *

_...NERV-hospital, at the same time..._

Shinji slowly roused out of the drug-induced sleep. He barely remembered the string of a syringe before he had drifted off into darkness. Compared to how he had felt after being spat out of the EVA, he felt great, refreshed. The first thing he noticed was, that he was in a hospital bed. The second thing he noticed was a big mop of blue hair.

Looking to his side he saw Rei, who had somehow ended up sleeping beside him on the bed. His sight getting better, he was shocked at how she looked. Rei looked as if she hadn't slept much in weeks, tired and her face showing signs of severe stress. And her hair looked like a total, tangled mess, as if she didn't care any longer for it. And right now she was deep asleep beside him, as if she couldn't any longer stay awake because of sheer exhaustion.

That, and in her sleep Rei was holding on him as if she feared he would dissolve into thin air.

_She looks so small and tired. As if she has used up every bit of her energy... _

Looking to the other side, Shinji was greeted by Misato and his uncle, both of them visibly relieved that he was there with them, standing beside his bed. "Misato? Uncle Kal?"

Both of the greeted him with big smiles that showed how happy they were. "You'll excuse us if we don't hug you, but that spot is already filled," Misato said with light humor, all traces of tension fallen from her, despite the strangeness that had happened after the rescue. She then fished something out of her pocket. "Here, I think you want this back." That said, she returned his locket to its rightful place around his neck.

"Thanks. I really missed it," Shinji thanked her, touching the heart-shaped metal.

"You've worried all of us, son. All of us are happy that you came back," Kaldor said, while tousling Shinji's hair. Not that the boy cared right now as it was a gesture of affection. Kaldor felt like a huge weight had fallen off his shoulders, no longer having any reason for feeling that he had failed his sister. "Everyone felt it when you left us, especially young Rei here."

Shinji glanced to Rei. "She looks so weak and exhausted."

"It had been especially hard for her. She loves you, and your loss almost broke her. Now she won't let you out of sight for very long," Misato remarked. She didn't want to ruin her good mood right now. "They say you'll be up and running today."

"W-where are the others?" Shinji wondered, seeing no one beside Rei, Kaldor and Misato.

"They didn't want to crowd you, so they decided to give you some space and will visit you later," Kaldor explained. "They are very understanding that right now you and Rei need some time on your own. Yui would have been proud of your choice of friends."

Shinji bit his lip when his uncle mentioned his mother, missing Misato's wince. He knew he would hurt his uncle with what he was about to tell him. That Yui was alive after all these years and the circumstances would be hard to accept for Kaldor. "Actually... While I was in there..."

He was interrupted when hectic noise erupted in the corridor outside the door.

Curious, Misato opened the door, and they were greeted with quite a sight. There, wheeled down the corridor on a gurney was Gendo Ikari, unmoving and looking as if something had struck him down. The paramedics shouted various things about his condition, before they entered the emergency room, the door closing behind them. They had all seen it through the open door.

"What the...?" Seeing the Vice-Commander approaching, Misato turned his attention to him. "Sir? What happened to Commander Ikari?"

Fuyutsuki shook his head while entering the room. "It seems that he didn't manage to come to terms with the fact that his own wife has rejected everything he has done. I found him like this in his quarters. A man who hasn't touched alcohol in over a decade will react very violently to a sudden alcohol rush."

Shinji gasped. "My father has tried to drink himself to death?" Then it clicked what he had heard. "Wait... his wife?" He had a feeling that he had missed something important.

Kaldor looked unhappy when hearing this. It opened an old wound. "I hope this isn't some sort of a sick joke."

Fuyutsuki knew that he would better get this clear right now. "I'm not joking in this matter." He then looked to Misato. "Major, you tell him what happened on the bridge."

_Why me? _Misato whined silently, feeling that it was unfair that she had to explain things she herself didn't understand. Seeing that she had no choice, she recounted the events from two hours ago, which had ended with the strange woman on the screen literally demolishing the Commander, who then had fled the bridge.

"Tell me you made that up." That was simply too crazy to be real, Kaldor decided.

"I think she said the truth." Everyone looked to Shinji. "The same thing that happened to me, happened to her. She told me herself she is still in there... without a way to get out. I don't know what had happened. But if it's true... at least she is with us."

_He really seems to believe that. Kami, what if that is really true?_ Kaldor didn't know what to think, then looked to the Vice-Commander, still mistrustful. "I'll only believe it when she tells me this herself."

"If you insist... Major..."

Misato looked to Shinji. "Don't you two do anything stupid while I'm gone. And better tell us your story when I'm back with the others." That said, all three grown-ups left the two children alone. And Shinji would have taken her serious, if not for him knowing that after all the stress, she needed to vent it in humor.

_It's not like Rei and me are waiting to do it like rabbits the second they are gone... _Looking to Rei he only then noticed that she must have been awake for some time already. "Rei? How long have you been awake?"

"The noise from the door woke me up." The little nap by far hadn't been enough to make up for the many hours of lost sleep, or the sleep that was filled with nightmares. She still was tired and couldn't wait for a full night of sleep. The last month had been the worst of her entire life, her emotions violently changing between depression, anger and despair, before everything had frozen over with her trying to burry all emotion so that it wouldn't hurt.

If I only had been so simple. Trying to shove them aside during the day only made them return with a vengeance during the night. And in this month she had truly learned what it meant to love someone, the heartache a lesson she wouldn't forget. And from the depth of her mind, regrets over how they hadn't expressed their love fully had eaten at her over this long month. It was hard to believe that a little over half a year ago, she had been emotionally dead. And even trying to return to this state had been an utter failure. Pandora's box had been opened and changed her forever. There was no going back now.

She looked at him with tired, bloodshot eyes, in which everything seemed to be red. Then she gently claimed his mouth. For a full minute they were lost in each other, before separating. "When you left, it created a painful void inside me. In this pain... I realised how much I long for you, how much love I feel for you."

"Rei, I didn't want to hurt you..." Shinji was stopped by her hand over his mouth.

"I do not blame you for anything, Shinji. Only promise me that you will be here when I wake up." And while she said this, she held tighter on him, as if he could disappear at any moment. So close to him, she felt safe from everything.

Shinji knew that Rei wasn't a girl of many words, and also quite direct. But right now she was very emotional, testament of how hard this time had been for her. And while he didn't doubt that she would again find her emotional center and regain her calmness, for now he would need to comfort her. "I promise. I won't go anywhere."

Obviously that was enough for Rei, and she returned to exactly the position in which he had found her asleep. "Shinji Ikari... You make me feel warm and loved..." Rei felt so secure now, that she allowed her tiredness to catch up. In less then a minute, sleep had again claimed her.

Time went by, and Shinji saw that Rei smiled in her sleep. _She seems to be having a wonderful dream._

And actually Rei **was** having a wonderful dream. While all her dreams in the last weeks had been horrible nightmares, the darkness had been blown away by Shinji's return. And right now she had a dream where she and Shinji were enjoying themselves on a tropical beach... in their birthday suits, doing something which Rei enjoyed.

And with this dream, a suppressed need arose within her.

* * *

_...during the day..._

"Vice-Commander! You can't really think of doing that! It will only end in disaster," Ritsuko tried to protest. She had been called into the Commander's office, where Fuyutsuki was acting commander while Gendo was out, to be told about a decision she found simply mad.

"You don't understand, Dr. Akagi. It is not that we actually have a choice. Pilot Ikari already knows of SEELE, of Lilith and Third Impact. He is far too honest to stay quiet. And if not him, Yui Ikari will tell them, now that she has found a way to communicate," Kozo told her calmly.

"You know that should they know these things, they could decide to desert us?" Dr. Akagi asked him, feeling that she probably would do so, should she find something this big that had been hidden from her.

The Vice-Commander knew that. "I know the risk. But as I said, we have no choice. If we do it now, we hopefully can convince them that things have changed. I for one know very well that you in the end only followed but had no actual desire to force mankind to evolve."

Ritsuko was taken aback. How did he know? First it had been because of personal loyalty to Gendo and lately just because it was what she always did. She hadn't thought about the consequences, much to her current shame. She had been so fixated on the now, that she had lost sight of the future. "No, I didn't... The Commander will lynch us when he gets wind of this."

"Then it will be far too late. He isn't in any shape to stop us right now, and I doubt he will be in the near future." With a sigh, he sat down. "Doctor, you should know, originally I had the goal to stop whatever happened in secret. But faster than I thought, I was captured in a net of lies, deceit and secrecy. I feel this is our last chance to escape, before we go down with it."

Ritsuko swallowed hard. Despite being a genius, despite doing all the things she had done, she never really had thought about the personal consequences all this could have for her. Now that she thought about it, a dark picture started to build before her mind's eye. "Sir... who will know? And what about Unit-02?"

"The children, obviously. Major Katsuragi, since she is very close to them. I know that Mr. Kaji spies for SEELE, but recently Section II reports anomalies in his behavior and him meeting often with the Major. We will order both of them to appear later and then see where their loyalties lie. Yui had agreed not to tell anyone, for now. We have to ask the Third Child as well..." He then stopped for some seconds. "As for Unit-02, we will keep this secret for now, it would be too taurmatic for the pilot to know the truth."

The longer she thought about it, the more she understood how deep they were in it. _In what have we gotten ourselves?_

* * *

_...the next day..._

The atmosphere in the elevator was silent. It was no wonder after what everyone had went through in the last hour. Being told the truth did that to people if said truth is hard to digest.

A secret organisation pulling all strings, plans of madness to end all of mankind to become gods, plans of a broken man to destroy mankind to get back his wife, side wife returning as a 'ghost in the machine', an Angel in the geofront, how Evangelions were made. Far too much for them to grasp at once. Being joined by said ghost on a screen during that only added to the weirdness. Having the whole truth finally shown to them wasn't something you would simply accept and move on.

Misato and Ryoji on the other hand had had the time. Yesterday they had been both called into the Commander's office, where the Vice-Commander and Ritsuko had started to grill them. Right from the beginning they had made clear they knew that Kaji was a spy for SEELE, and that hard decisions had to be made that went directly against the old men. They hadn't given him much choice: either get eliminated to prevent SEELE from knowing all this, or give them a good reason to let him live. Ryoji had a good instinct to know when his life was at stake. Thankfully they weren't Gendo, who wouldn't have hesitated to eliminate him.

However, he had gotten into an uncomfortable position. Bringing in Misato was one thing. But these two were a different matter. That day had turned into a nightmare when he needed to explain this to his employers in the government, who were royally pissed that his cover had been blown. Only the personal guarantee of Ritsuko and Fuyutsuki that they had broken with SEELE, and the details on the huge puzzle that they hadn't been able to solve, had stopped them from getting him shot by a firing squad.

However, they hadn't told them of Gendo's personal plans. If they would have done so, it would have made the military do things in their mistrust that would have alerted SEELE. And right now they were both on the hot seat, the danger of consequences looming over them.

And right now they were on their way to the depths of Terminal Dogma, to be shown more of the truth.

Rei already knew most of was down there. It was things you wouldn't forget. Thankfully one detail would be left out. She had asked, no, begged the Vice-Commander and Dr. Akagi not to reveal the room of Gaff and its contents to the others, especially Shinji. In the end they did understand why she didn't want the others to see it. She was ashamed of her heritage and wasn't ready to reveal this secret to her friends, as she feared they wouldn't understand.

She was created literally from the genetic material of hundreds of Japanese women, to combine the best of all. Seeing the picture of Shinji's mother so long ago, she had realised that Yui Ikari also was a donor who of all things, had given the form of her face to Rei. And then there were the rough 20 percent of her that came from Lilith. Dr. Akagi had told her that apart from some minor differences, she wasn't different from a baseline human. But she was a girl without parents, born in a test tube with dozens of clones as replacement parts. And while she had been totally indifferent to it most of her life, that had changed now.

_I do not want Shinji to learn of how I came to be. He wouldn't understand. He would be scared when seeing the clones. I will reveal it to him when he is ready for it, _Rei thought. But she didn't know when this time would be.

She was really ashamed of how she came to be. It was bad enough that right now, a different secret of hers was about to get revealed.

The light went on, revealing a room that looked like... "That... that looks like the hell-hole that was Rei's old apartment, before she moved," Shinji gasped. The room was as cold and inhumane as Rei's old apartment had been, maybe even more as it looked like a tomb as well.

"That's how her old place looked like? Why didn't she go bonkers?" Toji wondered. He was disturbed by this room, could almost feel the emptiness in it. After all the shit he had learned today, this simple room was strangely enough even more disturbing.

"It is no wonder that it looks like this. This is where Rei had lived, or better, existed for most of her life, totally isolated from the rest of the world," Ritsuko said, feeling disgust when seeing this place again. She had no idea what her mother had thought when going with this.

"Commander Ikari wanted to create the perfect pilot, who wouldn't question any order. So he held her isolated for years to erase all traces of emotions and anything that could become a danger to him," the Vice-Commander explained further, while looking to Rei, who had become even paler than she already was.

"How can someone be so cruel?" Hikari wondered aloud, while everyone looked to Rei, who was held protectively in Shinji's arms. And after seeing this, Asuka couldn't help but to feel ashamed over how she had treated Rei. Her own tragedy was tame compared to this horror.

"You knew of this..." Shinji said accusingly, while holding Rei close.

"We knew, and we hated it. But the orders came from SEELE themselves, probably at the insistence of your father. There was nothing we could have done." Ritsuko didn't dare say that not so long ago, she actually hadn't thought anything of it.

"He thought that he could erase all traces of humanity from her." The Vice-Commander shook his head. "He should have known better that human nature isn't so easily destroyed. You, young Ikari, returned to Rei, what had been taken from her." He was honest after seeing all these years how Rei had been treated. And Shinji believed his words, feeling that he was sincere.

Rei for her part didn't want to see this room again. All these years in total isolation, with no one to speak to (the ones who came never spoke with her), with nothing to turn her knowledge-hungry mind on, with the same thing every day for years. It had back then broken her spirit. The memories of how this room had made her into a puppet incapable of living were painful. The light of her life had become only a small spark in here, and only when a certain boy started to come into her life, this spark again started to grow.

"I hate this place. Please let us go, Shinji," she told him with a shaky voice.

Seeing how the mere act of being in this room hurt Rei, Shinji let her out of it. The others followed them in silence. Silence out of respect for Rei remembering the things that had happened in that room.

A little while later, they saw the next "attraction."

"That looks like something out of one of your horror movies," Hikari said scared, while looking at the pits on the level below, which were filled with huge skeletons. In her fear, she held closer to Toji. "I don't like this place."

"An Evangelion graveyard?" Shinji wondered, looking at the disturbing display. It really did look like a horror movie, with the skulls of dozens of Evangelions, each having a different eye configuration, being the peak of horror. And apart from these, that had been at least a hundred failed EVA's that had been thrown into these pits on the lower level.

"A dump would be more fitting. Most of these were failures from the beginning of Project E. You can ask your mother if you don't believe me, but the process of actually creating an Evangelion had been almost impossible, the failure ratio enormous. They went through almost five dozen failures before they managed to create Unit-00. It was repeated for Unit-01, before finally the mystery had been fully deciphered," Ritsuko explained to them.

"The test chambers where the accident happened that got her absorbed in the EVA were also on this level. The Commander had ordered them to be destroyed," Kozo added.

Asuka looked down at these pits in morbid fascination. "Even Evangelion will die one day..." She didn't say it aloud, but the whole story of how Shinji's mother had ended up inside Unit-01 disturbed her. There was something she was missing, but she couldn't get a grasp on it. It frustrated her that it stayed out of her reach, mocking her.

_But I WILL find out, even if I have to stay overnight in the entry plug! _she silently vowed.

Rei said nothing while looking at the morbid display. She had visited this place once, and even back then, with her emotions mostly gone, she had felt unwell in this place. _Is this how everything will come to end? _she wondered philosophically, while they walked down to the deepest level.

Finally they had reached their final destination and walked on a balcony that overlooked the cave in which Lilith was nailed to a cross. Shinji barely suppressed a gasp when seeing the seven eyes, being reminded of his nightmare.

"We told you about her. This is Lilith, the Second Angel, and the source from where we have created Unit-01. Should the other Angels ever make direct contact with her, it will be the end of the world. And only the lance in her chest for now prevents her from causing trouble," Ritsuko explained to them, noticing that Rei didn't seem to feel well in Lilith's presence.

_Could this be because of the part of her that is from Lilith? _she wondered.

With this, everything was shown to them, so they made their way out. Leaving the chamber, the Vice-Commander looked to Ritsuko. "I expect you tomorrow in my office, Dr. Akagi. There is an important matter that has to be settled, now that we have started this here," he told her cryptically, leaving Ritsuko to wonder what he could have meant with that.

She shook her head, no need to brood over this right now. _I will find out soon enough. _With that thought she filed it away in her mind and concentrated on the other stuff that had piled up on her desk.

Meanwhile Shinji checked on Rei. "Rei, are you alright?" he asked her, worried as he had seen that she seemed unwell during their stay in the chamber with the Angel.

"It is nothing serious, Shinji. I felt unwell in the presence of Lilith." Rei already looked better, now that they were walking away from the Angel. There weren't many things that scared her, but Lilith was at the first place. The Second Angel summoned the deepest fears in her. "Shinji, I have a request."

He didn't blink an eye at her change of topic, long used to it. While he wondered while she had felt unwell, he didn't want to press the matter. Shinji knew that her new question must be personal because when Rei became unsure, she tended to return to more stiff speech patterns. He wondered what she could ask him for. "How can I help you, Rei?"

Rei went closer to him. "Shinji, please meet me in my rooms this evening. There is a matter I need to discuss with you," she whispered to him.

Shinji didn't know what this could mean, and why she made such a secret of it. "I'll be there," he promised her, wondering what could be so secret, that she only wanted to tell him in total privacy. But then again, this was Rei, and despite them having become so close, there were still things about her he didn't understand.

_Shinji, I will not wait any longer. _Rei thought, while they entered the elevator. She had felt it burning bright within herself, and she felt that it was the right thing to do, now that he had returned to her.

They hadn't noticed that they had been watched in the big chamber.

_**Bastard child of mine. Only wait until I'm strong enough. Then I will come for you first. A little more time, then my hour will come, as I have foreseen. Tabris, you fool, I know you won't disappoint me... ha ha ha!**_

* * *

_...some time later..._

"I don't want to repeat this day. I saw how scared the children were of the truth and how much they now feel sorry for Rei. And to be honest, some of that stuff scared me as well," Misato told Ryoji during their coffee break. While she had know that NERV has more secrets, she hadn't known how disgusting these secrets would be.

"And what's even worse, we now also have to fear that some guy in the military freaks and fucks up everything in the process, now that they know everything. We can only pray that SEELE won't get word of this, or we are in deep trouble," Ryoji added before taking a gulp from his cup. His job had become really difficult now and he felt like he was standing in a minefield.

"You know... it's almost funny. I always saw the world black and white; us against them. And now we are in a mess with countless shades of grey. If it weren't so serious, I would laugh at how life likes to throw rocks into my path," Misato ranted, needing to get this off her chest. For her it sucked that there wasn't an easy world-view.

Ryoji shook his head, while setting down his cup. "Life is never easy. But hey, otherwise it would be boring as hell. I say we shouldn't bring ourselves down by being brooding and moody."

Misato sighed. "I can only hope that for now things finally return to normal. I hate to live in a state of never-ending emergency. Even with the cat out of the bag, I only want some quiet and time for myself. Well, maybe not exactly me alone, but time with a certain someone."

"Is this a come-on for a date, Major Katsuragi?" Ryoji asked jokingly. Although the day had been difficult, he saw no reason to stay glum. His way to stop brooding over something they couldn't change anyway, lifted Misato's mood.

"Oh, you can bet on it, Mr. Kaji," she told him with a slight smile. After today she only wanted to get some good memories. They had both finally grown up into adults, so why not also do some adult activities with the 'Shinji-crisis' being over?

* * *

_...at the evening..._

Shinji wondered what Rei could want from him, that she had asked him to come at this hour. Not that anyone would notice.

Misato was out on a date with Ryoji Kaji, which meant they wouldn't be back before close to midnight at the earliest. Asuka had went to bed early, saying that she didn't want to hear what unmentionable things Misato and Kaji would do in Misato's room after returning from their date, although he had a good idea what that would be. Hopefully they wouldn't make too much noise as he didn't want Asuka being grumpy in the morning. Even after her becoming a nicer person, she was no morning girl and dare should she know who was responsible for it. The rest of the house was quiet, no one would see him.

The door opened, and Rei asked him to come in. She seemed awfully quiet, as if waiting for something, when closing the door behind him. What followed was awkward silence, as if they didn't know what to say. Finally, Shinji felt that asking would be the best.

"All right, Rei. How can I help you?" he knew Rei preferred the direct approach. If you want to ask her something, do it directly.

Rei decided that her direct approach would be best for what she wanted to do. "Shinji, you remember our decision that for the moment a sexual relationship is not what we desire?" she asked him bluntly, feeling that this needed to get out right away. She knew Shinji wouldn't be offended by her choice of words, as he was used to it.

Shinji gulped when Rei said this. Now he had a good idea why she wanted him to come at this late hour. "Rei... I..." but he stopped when Rei indicated that she wanted to say more.

"Shinji, I have thought very long about this. When you left us, your absence created a void within me. My love for you turned into pain, since you weren't there to receive it. I realised that everything we love could be taken from us without warning. Shinji, I want this because I feel ready for it now. And I will regret none of this," Rei explained to him.

No Angel attack had made Shinji as nervous as now, when Rei basically told him that she wanted to make love with him. The idea of making love to Rei was already giving him quite the mental picture. "Are you absolutely sure that you want this?" _Because I know that once we start, I won't be able to stop..._

Rei gave him a gentle kiss, looking him directly in the eyes. "Yes. I want this, and I want you, Shinji Ikari. I want to become one with you."

This melted away Shinji's last doubts. How could he refuse this beautiful girl? "You know that tomorrow is my birthday? I think you want to give me an early present." He then returned the gesture of affection, holding Rei close while he did so. When their lips again parted, he smiled. "I'm no longer afraid. This is the most beautiful thing you could give me."

"I read that we should proceed in the bedroom," Rei said, unable to hide how excited she was. This was something she wouldn't have dreamed about -if she could have dreamed at all- a year ago.

Right then Shinji remembered something. "Damn, I don't have any protection!" He hoped that Rei would have something.

Rei knew that this would have come up, but still it put a damper on the mood. "Shinji, we do not need protection. I... when I was young, I needed surgery. In the end, my womb had to be removed. I am incapable of reproducing," she told him with some sadness. The feeling of being incomplete, of being less of a girl had been with her since her emotional reawakening. "I will understand if you are disappointed that I can not reproduce."

Shinji was taken aback for a moment. Rei looked like a healthy girl, so the idea that this had happened to her was an ugly surprise. But then he saw how much this hurt Rei, and he shoved it aside, feeling that it didn't matter. "I don't care! I still love you!"

"Shinji..." her feelings for him became tenfold when hearing this. He loved her so much that he didn't care about this. Her heart was jumping. This was the biggest show of true love, that he didn't care that she was crippled. Her longing for him became painful. "Let us go to the bedroom."

Now that they had regained their good mood, he did as his girlfriend wanted him to.

**(The scene is MUCH longer, but NC-17. Look in my bio for the link to the uncut version.)**

* * *

_...later that night..._

The door to Rei's apartment opened, and a single shadow looked around, before walking to her bedroom. In the room, the air was heavy with the smell of sweat and sex. On the bed, there were Shinji and Rei, both deep asleep and totally naked, Rei's shapely butt greeting the intruder. Both of them smiled in their sleep, holding onto each other.

Gently the shadow pulled a blanket over these two, before leaving.

Once she was in her own apartment, Misato let out a breath. When they hadn't seen Shinji in his bed, Misato had a feeling where to find him, and her feeling had proven true. She sighed. "I wish these two hadn't been forced to grow up so fast. And while they are happy now, I feel that they were robbed of their right to take their needed time for this."

"Well, at least they are, as you said, happy." Ryoji then smiled. "I think experience trumps youth, what do you think?"

Misato smirked. "Let's test this theory!" she declared, before pulling Ryoji into her bedroom, sliding the door shut. There was still enough time for their fun tonight.

_**to be continued...**_

_**Next Episode:**_

_**"Lessons of the Past"**_


	29. Lessons of the Past

I will say these things in advance: I have absolutely no rights to NGE, but you should have already known that.

The story itself is basically a re-telling of the original storyline, but twisted into my way. While at the beginning there seem to be only few deviances, it will become more with each episode. The people, their motivations and the backgrounds are while holding true to the basic layout, changed at my imagination in many details, so canon-purists now are allowed to flame me.

NOTE: I hate both, the ending of the TV series, and how End of Evangelion turned out. So don't expect either of those outcomes.

This is Shinji/Rei. Now finally the mystery of Unit-00 will be lifted. Also after a lag, Mayumi's story will be continued. (Editors note: I have to apologize to all of you now. I'm Zenosyke, the new proofer, and it's mostly my fault that this chapter was as late as it was. Don't ever worry that this story has been discontinued, If it's late, it's probably my fault...) Note from myself: The story was, that my old proofreader gravely disappointed me, so I fired him and found Zenosyke. That caused the loooong delay.

After you've read the chapter **Please Review!** Please tell me your opinion. I promise to answer every review I get.

* * *

**Chapter 28: Lessons of the Past**

This is most unusual, _she thought, finding herself at the shore of a lake, having no memory how she had gotten there. She felt strange, burdened in a way. That, and she felt the warm air on her skin, meaning that she was pretty much naked._

_Looking at her reflection in the water of the lake, Rei's eyes widened in surprise. It wasn't girl-Rei that greeted her. The Rei in the reflection was a grown-up woman. A really good looking woman at that. That, and she had something very prominent: a very rounded belly that left no doubt that she was very pregnant._

_"How is this possible?" she wondered. She was barren! She couldn't get pregnant!_

_"Never say never."_

_Looking up, she saw a Rei with wings of a butterfly emerge from the water. This one had the correct age but also was naked. She was confused, what was going on? Watching the butterfly-Rei, she couldn't put her confusion into words. Finally the other Rei spoke again._

_"You never know what the future will bring. Your journey is still at the beginning. Only time will reveal all its secrets to you."_

_Then everything blurred around her._

_"AHHHHH!" Rei screamed, when a flash of pain went through her lower body. When everything cleared up, she was in a unusual position._

_She was lying in some kind of hospital bed, wearing only a hospital gown. Her lower body was exposed and her legs were firmly secured in stirrups, spread apart as far as possible. She heard people around her, but was unable to see them as everything outside the bed was pitch black. But she knew what was happening right now, she was giving birth and it... "AHHHHHHHGGGG!" ...it hurt like hell._

_Rei felt the contractions in her lower body, and her teeth ground together in sheer pain. She NEEDED something to BITE on. NOW! She opened her mouth in another scream, when a unseen hand put something into her mouth. She tasted rubber. Someone had put a rubber ball, like one on these ball-gags, into her mouth. She didn't complain and bit down hard on it, her screams silenced by it._

_Another contraction hit her, and..._

Rei opened her eyes, only to be greeted by the sight of Shinji. Looking to the side, she saw the dawn over Tokyo-3 through the window. It had all been a dream. She was puzzled by this dream. Her inability to reproduce was inverted and mixed with a sexual flavor. Most bizarre. But then again she had accepted that dreams were rarely logical.

Carefully extracting herself from her boyfriend, she opened the window to air the room, as the smell of sex was still prominent in the air. She didn't bother with dressing for now, since the only one who could see her was Shinji (who was expected to see it). She still felt the afterglow from their lovemaking, even after hours. It was something wonderful they did, and she hoped would do many times in the future. She had noticed the blanket that had covered them, meaning that someone had been there. And she knew who had the code for the front door.

Entering the bathroom in her birthday suit, she saw a different Rei than the one she usually saw in the mirror. This Rei looked more at peace with herself and... she looked a little more like a woman, despite not looking physically any different. But she also knew that thanks to sweat and... other body fluids, she was a sticky mess, not just on her lower body (don't ask), but she didn't regret a second of it.

A little later, Shinji was awakened by the whistling of the tea kettle.

He was disoriented for a second, before remembering what he and Rei had done last night. And he felt that every second of it had been wonderful. But right now he felt sticky from these activities, surely Rei would have nothing against him taking a quick shower. In any case, he didn't want Misato to catch the smell. No need to spill the beans to her.

Some minutes later, a showered and clothed Shinji found Rei in the kitchen, where she prepared a small breakfast. She was wearing her school uniform and looked quite refreshed. He had to acknowledge that her being able to do these kitchen-tasks would be seen as a wonder if one only remembered the Rei from half a year ago. Back then she had been like a plant during the winter. Now she had come to blossom, a beautiful person unfolding from the Rei that once was.

"Good morning, Rei," he greeted her joyfully, sitting down at the table.

"Hello Shinji," she returned the greeting with a smile, setting a cup with tea before him on the table. "Breakfast will be ready in a few minutes."

Shinji knew he had to tell her this. "Uhm, Rei. I don't want to appear rude, but I better return home before Misato or Asuka wake up and notice that I'm missing. They won't let me hear the end of it if they find out that we spent the night together."

"Your concern is valid, but it is already too late for such caution," she said. "I noticed that someone had put a blanket over us while we slept. Only the Major knows the code for the front door."

"Oh gods..." Shinji held his face in his hands. That was the worst case, now Misato would tease him to no end over him becoming a 'real man' and making Rei a 'true woman'. It would only become worse once the others got wind of it. Even though Asuka was nicer now and no longer an obnoxious bitch, she would also give off a number of smart comments. Being a teenager could be cruel sometimes, especially when it came to sex.

"Why are you concerned that others know about us having a sex life? Are you ashamed that we had intercourse?" Rei wondered. She didn't fully understand his concern. While she did understand the need for privacy when they were in the act, the need for secrecy eluded her.

Shinji sighed. He should have known that Rei wouldn't understand what it would mean for them. A remnant of social awkwardness. "Don't say that. It was the most beautiful thing I've ever done, especially with a even more beautiful girl." Rei blushed a little. He continued, "But that's stuff that people don't want to be public knowledge... -sigh- Trust me, you will see soon enough why couples try to keep such stuff confidential."

Rei didn't really understand what Shinji meant with the last remark. However, she did feel that she probably would know soon enough.

Shinji set down the cup after enjoying the tea. "I bet Misato will throw a big birthday party for me this evening. Big, because she also will want to celebrate my return."

"This sounds...nice." Shinji again mentioning his birthday made her wonder. When actually was her own, or at least the equivalent of it?

* * *

_...two hours later, NERV..._

"Shinji, you seem to have something on your mind. I can feel that you have trouble concentrating," Yui told her son over one of the screens in the entry plug.

Today they had finished the internal repairs on Unit-01. Normally they wouldn't have risked their pilot testing the unit, but Yui had assured them that the EVA was no longer hostile, and that the S² wouldn't be an issue. So right now Shinji was busy with getting familiar with the different Unit-01. Easier said then done, since he had a lot on his mind.

Having his mother being like a ghost in the machine didn't help either. It was still weird to see her like this. But to be honest, everyone in NERV who had contact with her felt that it was weird. That she actually had partly access to his mind made him feel uneasy, too. It actually was every teenager's nightmare that their parents would have ways to look into their thoughts. He could only hope that his mother would honor her behavior up to now and wouldn't look any deeper.

But beside that, the events of this morning were on his mind. Misato had teased the hell out of him as soon as she was up. It had pretty much went as he had predicted. At least Rei had been spared this, although he suspected that she would be put through the gauntlet at school by the other girls right now. While Asuka hadn't said much at home, only grumbling that she didn't want to know what Misato and Mr. Kaji had done at night, he was sure that she couldn't hold her mouth shut. While he regretted nothing that he did with Rei, he could live without the gossip that now would surely follow.

However, there were some things he didn't want to tell his mother, one being his love life. "Urgh, I don't want to talk about it, alright? It's really personal."

"Oh, that means it has something to do with Rei," Yui added further. She knew that Rei was a good girl, and thus approved wholeheartedly their relationship. Unfortunately, like every parent, she sometimes got a little too curios, especially after being separated from her son for so long.

Shinji felt his nervousness skyrocketing, and he couldn't prevent his memories of last night returning to the surface. _Oh gods, not yet! _But it was too late when he could feel his mother's embarrassment, before she tightened up the thought filter. He blushed heavily.

Yui's picture looked embarrassed, too, although it was hard to tell with a line picture. "Oh dear... I... Please believe me I didn't want to do that!... I forgot to set the filter right..." She had seen more than she had ever wanted and felt ashamed that she had breeched her son's privacy, even if it was an accident.

"Oh boy... now it is too late... Ok, I'm concerned how the other girls will grill Rei at school," Shinji admitted. "Can we please change the topic?"

Yui had no trouble to feel that her son wanted this to be over. "All right... Since you mentioned school, I expect you to catch up for the lost month. No son of mine will have mediocre grades."

"Ahhh, don't remind me," he groaned. Misato already had told him the same; that the next few days would be filled with lots of catching up. There were some things you couldn't escape: death, taxes, and for teenagers, school.

"No buts, young man," Yui shot him down. "Even your father, who isn't exactly a great role model, achieved his academic title the honest way, through hard work... That reminds me, what about him? Last I heard he drank himself silly."

Shinji didn't want to talk about his father, but he made an exception for his mom. "They put up a suicide watch. They say he is totally unlike himself, like an empty shell."

Yui sighed. "I hope he will stop feeling sorry for himself and accepts that he has to work hard to regain my trust. I still can't believe what happened to him in all these years..."

"...it's not you..." Shinji had disliked his father all his life. The idea that Gendo could change was a concept that he had trouble to grasp.

"Before I forget it, how is my brother doing? He seemed to have been a little disturbed by seeing me like this..." Yui remembered Kaldor's reaction too well. The man looked as if he had seen a ghost. No big wonder, considering he had thought her dead for over ten years. She was concerned that he couldn't accept her like this.

"Uncle Kal? I think better than you think. He looked pretty excited when he left town, said he would need to make more permanent arrangements, before moving to Tokyo-3," Shinji told her. He was glad that his uncle had taken the news of his mother's strange return well enough.

"He wants to move here?" That was news for Yui.

"Yes. He said after all that happened, he would try to keep an closer eye on me. I guess he doesn't want to disappoint you."

Yui felt proud of her brother, that he acted so much like a father for her son.

Meanwhile in the control room, Misato watched the whole test. "Too bad that we can't hear a thing. You can say what you want, but his mother is sure insistent on their privacy." Yui had deactivated the audio recorder. As long as they didn't open a comm-channel, they only had visuals. Misato had a good guess, but she wasn't so mean to spread around news of Shinji's love life.

"But the numbers say a lot. Seems they had a mother-son talk, and now he is able to concentrate better. The numbers look good," Ritsuko commented while reading he results. "You had lots of fun last night? Hope you won't give us a Misato II. too soon."

"What Ryoji and I do is none of your business!" Misato growled. "Look into the mirror! At least I have a love life!"

"Why would I need one?" Of course that wasn't the truth. She had craved Gendo's attention for a long time. But now that this was over (and she wouldn't even dare to tell Yui, as the woman was in a huge mecha) she felt something missing. And while she knew the qualities in men, and therefore what she liked, the last month hadn't been easy.

She had caught herself looking after several co-workers. That on its own wouldn't be too unusual, as she was a woman with desires. However, she was disturbed, that some of these co-workers had been female.

She wondered why she did that. On the other hand, during college and university, she hadn't any eye for romance, and afterwards immersed herself in work before hooking up with Gendo. She had thought up to now that she knew her preferences. But maybe that wasn't fully the case?

_What is the matter with me? _she wondered. She hated it to be so unsure of herself.

* * *

_...later that day, office of the Vice-Commander..._

"I'm here as requested, Vice-Commander," Ritsuko said when entering his office. She was a little curious what this important matter was, that he needed to discuss with her in person. He had made it mysterious enough.

"Dr. Akagi, what I will show you has been a well-guarded secret up to now. I asked you to come alone, because it involves you on a personal level," the Vice-Commander told her, while locking the office door.

Ritsuko raised an eyebrow. What could involve her on a personal level? The Vice-Commander was speaking in riddles. "With all respect, I don't understand."

"I hadn't expected you to do so. But now, that all secrets are told, it is time to reveal a secret that had been held from you for years." He held up a optical disk. "This is the original security footage as it had been locked away by Commander Ikari for years." He then inserted the disk into his computer, before turning the screen so that Ritsuko could watch everything.

And then the footage of something that happened years ago appeared on the screen.

_-flashback, a little under six years ago..._

_Naoko Akagi leaned back in her seat on the newly finished bridge of the geofront. Everything was going exactly as planned. Well, almost everything. The MAGI were ready to go on-line, the geofront was almost finished and GEHIRN was working like a well-oiled machine. But there were problems as well. Unit-01 was as dead as a stone since the incident, making it totally useless. Unit-00 was fully functional, but for some reason they simply couldn't make it tick. Only Unit-02 was operational, and it was stored in Europe._

_Naoko thought of her daughter. Ritsuko showed many traits she liked: devoted to science, ambitious, diligent. And while she was friends with a woman that essentially was the extreme opposite of this, it hadn't badly influenced her. Ritsuko was all left to her after the far too early death of her husband... And yet they didn't really get along. Sure, they had much respect for each other, and were always civil. But she wasn't blind and knew of the emotional rift between them. She was proud of her daughter, and yet it pained her to admit, that on a number of levels she had totally failed as a mother._

_Ritsuko followed her footsteps, and yet she didn't want to be like her. The act of dyeing her hair blond was the most obvious sign. For Naoko the meaning was clear: while Ritsuko still had feelings for her, she didn't want to come close to her any longer._

_At that moment, she noticed someone having entered the room. "What, who?" The she saw that it was Rei. The child disturbed her. While she knew the need for a specially constructed person for the scenario, she was creeped by this girl wearing Yui's face. It also bewildered her why Gendo insisted on Rei I, the prototype which hadn't been aged to nine years like the other clones, being around like this, acting like a normal child. _

_"Ah, Rei. Is there something I can help you with?" she tried to ask as pleasant as possible, her uneasiness was barely concealed._

_Rei stared, her eyes empty as usual. "No. I only got lost."_

_"Maybe I should help you to find your way then?" Naoko wanted Rei to be out of her hair as fast as possible. She felt unwell in her presence, because she reminded her of Yui, and thus made her feel guilty for being together with Gendo. And she didn't want to feel like that._

_"No, I will find the way on my own."_

_"And how do you think you can do that?" Naoko asked her mockingly. Somehow even this tool Rei was still in some things like a child._

_"Why should I tell you, old hag?" Rei's voice didn't change tone, when saying this._

_Naoko was taken aback at being insulted by Rei. "It is not nice to call someone an old hag."_

_"But aren't you an old hag?" Rei asked her in a way, as if she was sure to already know the answer._

_"Enough! I think I have to talk with Commander Ikari about your manners!" Naoko was now angered. This little brat dared to openly insult her. If not for the commander's protection, she would give that blue-haired brat a spanking she would never forget._

_Only now there seemed to be a small hint of surprise in the little girl's features. "But he calls you this all the time. The old hag goes on my nerves. I don't need the old hag any longer."_

_Naoko gasped when she heard this. Gendo called her this? And only the inability of a child to lie had brought this fact to her. Now all of a sudden it all made sense to her: Gendo's distance to her, the lack of tender moments with him recently, the cold demeanor he showed since Rei's activation. Gendo had only wanted her for her work. And now that everything was done..._

_Rage filled her heart. She needed something to vent her rage on. The fury of a woman who had discovered that she had been used like a tool needed to get released. And the best thing to vent her rage on was Rei. It happened to fast for Rei to react, and and the little girl felt her neck slowly being crushed by strong hands._

_"You little... You are replaceable, just like me..." Naoko squeezed the girl's neck, until her body stopped struggling, and went limp. Naoko's eyes widened, and she let go of the body, which fell lifeless to the ground. "No..what... what have I done?"_

_She had always prided herself as being a woman that didn't lose it, who always followed the way of logic and thinking, who would never let the primitive animal inside herself let rule her. And now she had used her very own hands to murder a child. It didn't matter that Rei would be reborn, her mind right now had a meltdown, the sheer shock that she was capable of such a deed was overwhelming and sent her into panic._

_"What have I done?" she screamed in panic, before running the the railing, jumping over it. She fell down to the lower, level, her head hitting the housing of one of the MAGI. Then she remained motionless on the floor, blood pooling around her._

_Meanwhile on the upper level, something that looked like a bird made of blue light emerged from the body of the dead Rei. It hovered for a moment, before diving into the floor, vanishing from sight. The body then dissolved into LCL, leaving behind a puddle and some children's clothing._

_On the lower level, Naoko silently suffered. Her suicide attempt hadn't been fully successful. She was still alive, only felt her life slowly draining away. But she heard footsteps, and then cried out in pain, when suddenly she was put on a gurney. Forcing her eyes open, she was greeted with Gendo and some of the guards._

_"Sir, she won't survive another hour, judging by sight," one of the men reported to the Commander._

_"This is irrelevant. Prepare Unit-00 immediately, then insert her." Gendo then noticed her watching him. "Well, Naoko, you will do us one last favor. You always wondered why the prototype won't work. Well, it needs to absorb a non-pilot human mind. You will do the honor." He said this in a voice that was mocking her._

_"Gendo...you damn pig... I hate you..." Her voice was weak, but full with venom._

_"I do not care if you hate me." He turned to another guard, while Naoko was wheeled away. "Clean up this mess here. I have to be somewhere else..."_

_-back in the present-_

Ritsuko said nothing, when the screen went blank. She was unable to say anything. She had prided herself on being a very controlled woman, who would never ever fall into the cliché of the emotional woman. But right now many emotions boiled within her, while on the outside she had went numb.

The truth that had unfolded in front of her, now everything made sense. Unit-00's attacks on the Commander, it stopping its rage when seeing her, its resentment of Rei. And it painfully laid bare the fact that Gendo hadn't cared ever for her, since he had disposed of her mother in such a way. The truth that she had wasted herself for a man who didn't care for her at all hurt a lot.

Then there was the shock at learning what really had happened to her mother.

Ritsuko felt a barely suppressed anger. She wanted to walk to Gendo right away to strangle him. But this was nothing compared to the inner turmoil that she felt when trying to come to terms with it. The idea that Naoko Akagi had been forced into Unit-00, that she was still in there, trapped in this monster...

She looked accusingly to the Vice-Commander. "You knew of this..." Her growing anger was clear in her voice.

Fuyutsuki looked away. It was clear that he wasn't proud of this fact. "Yes... Ikari told me, only to show me how deep I already was in it. I never could have told you before, without signing my death sentence. But now that things have changed... I felt that I was obliged to reveal the truth to you. No one else will know of this, unless you want to reveal this."

As much as she wanted to, she felt unable to stay angry at him on a personal level But she hadn't processed everything yet. She felt like something was stuck in her neck, like someone who felt the floor disappearing under her feet. Saying nothing, she fled the office.

Kozo Fuyutsuki couldn't fault her for wanting to be alone. But he wondered if Dr. Akagi would now leave them for good in her anger.

* * *

_...some time later..._

The air in Ritsuko's office was heavy with smoke. Ritsuko was by now on her eleventh cigarette. She always smoked a lot when in emotional turmoil or in stress. She knew it would kill her one day, but right now she didn't care. Her emotional distress was too great for caring at the moment.

She had went through her memory, and every moment of Gendo being nice to her now looked totally different in light of what she now knew. It painted a picture that scared her. And also she didn't know if she could face Unit-00, now that she knew its secret. The truth was hurting her. It was hurting her a lot. It made her wonder what her place now was within NERV. Why stay if the whole thing was made to collapse anyway, now that the government knew the truth about NERV?

She wasn't known to be emotional, but right now self-doubts and emptiness grew in her. Everything she had done over the last years now stood in question. Like her mother, she had only been a tool. And she wondered if Gendo had planned to let her end like her mother, if not for the fact that the newer EVAs had fixed the flaw that made it necessary to put a human soul into it.

She started to feel sorry for herself again and reached for cigarette number twelve, when...

"-ochht ochhot-"

Hearing coughing she looked to the door and saw Rei, who didn't seem to react well to the nicotine-flavored air. Ritsuko pushed the button to open the window, allowing the bad air to be let out. "Rei? What can I do for you?" she asked the girl. She felt a bad sense of dejà vu, feeling as if the scene from the security footage was repeating itself.

"I want to know what day my birthday is," Rei asked her. She had wondered about this the entire day, and had concluded, that Dr. Akagi would be most likely to know the answer.

Apart from that, her day had been very stressful. Not because of school work. It was because of the girls at the school. It had started from the first moment she had been in class. While many had thought her to be oblivious of the obvious for a long time and now only as a strange girl, she actually was very observant, noticing everything in her surroundings. It had become readily apparent that all of the girls were giving her strange looks. It had continued with whispering and she had noticed Asuka making one small side comment. Otherwise the German girl was, apart from Mayumi who had only given her an interesting look, the only female in class who didn't react to her at all.

At the beginning of the lunch break, it had happened. Before she realized what had happened, her seat was surrounded by at least a dozen girls, Mana and Hikari at the very front. It was then when the questions had started. Things like "You have really done it" or "How was he?" mixed with comments like "I always knew, the quiet ones...". She had barely acknowledged that she had intercourse, before it became even worse and with each question fired at her, she had blushed brighter, until she was as red as a tomato.

Now she understood why Shinji had told her that things like these had to be kept quiet. The whole ordeal had been horribly embarrassing for her. She hadn't thought that Hikari and Mana could be so forceful when fishing for intimate details. No way she would EVER mention something like this to them again!

But right now she waited for Dr. Akagi to answer her. The doctor looked more emotional than usual, but Rei didn't think much of it.

Ritsuko tried to pull herself together. No way she would break down in front of Rei! Putting up a indifferent front, she acknowledged her request. "This would be the day when the first Rei was released from the tank and woke up." She did some quick search on her computer in the secure files. "Congratulations. You fire woke up exactly six years ago, meaning that as of today, you are officially fifteen years old."

"I thank you, Dr. Akagi." Rei had a feeling that this wasn't a coincidence and more likely done on purpose by the Commander.

"Since we speak of this... Rei, do you remember what happened to your original body?" Ritsuko asked her. She needed to know if Rei actually remembered this incident, despite the fact that her memory backups only began a little over a year ago.

Rei blinked. She had never been asked about that. It actually was a mystery for herself. She only knew that Rei I had somehow perished, thus leading her to occupy this body. "There isn't any concrete memory of that existence. The little bits of memory I do have are in a haze. I only remember panic, extreme pain and then...darkness. I am sorry that I can not help you, Dr. Akagi."

"You don't have to be sorry." Ritsuko waited until Rei had closed the door behind herself, before letting out a small scream of helplessness, holding her head in her hands while leaning over her desk. Rei actually remembered being murdered, that was another piece in the mosaic. There was a time where she had hated that girl, and now she only felt really sorry for her.

All of it started to become too much for her.

_How am I supposed to ever again come close to EVA-00? She is in there! And I never knew... We were both only pawns... sacrificial lambs. _She had prided herself for years that she was in charge of her destiny. That also was the reason why she had looked down on Rei, saw her only as Gendo's puppet. And now being confronted with the bitter truth that Gendo had played her like a puppet as well, that was too much for her.

"Mom...what has he done to us?... I can't take it any longer!" Her rational, calm front crumbled away, revealing a woman in serious emotional distress. No longer caring, she openly started to cry. She cried for minutes, her eyes becoming bloodshot, until...

"Sempai?"

Looking up, Ritsuko saw Maya standing in the door. "Leave. Just leave me alone, Maya."

Maya Ibuki however didn't follow that order, and instead closed the door. "Sempai, what is wrong with you?" Normally she would follow orders, but right now she knew that something was gravely wrong with Ritsuko Akagi. And she did care for her superior.

"You can be a pest, Maya..." Right now Ritsuko didn't care any longer if she looked like a crybaby in front of her assistant. "I can't take any more. Today was the last straw... I'll quit!"

Maya looked scared at this display. She had always admired Dr. Akagi as a woman who was shaken by nothing. To see her now like this, as a woman who had taken one hit too much, was very painful. "Sempai, you can't quit!"

"YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT I LEARNED TODAY!" she finally screamed to Maya, her self-pity replaced with anger.

Maya felt that it was stupid that she would do this, but it was clear that Dr. Akagi couldn't think straight right now. She held Ritsuko hard by the shoulders. **"STOP IT!"** Scared, Ritsuko fell silent. That the otherwise quiet and peaceful Maya Ibuki had raised her voice against her like that, was new. And it did achieve something by shutting her up.

Seeing that this did it, Maya started to rant, while her hard looks pieced Ritsuko's eyes. "Now listen! This is not the Dr. Akagi who I adore as my Sempai. I don't know what you learned, but you can't quit. Countless lives depend on your work. Everyone counts on you! I count on you! You can't solve your problems by running away from your responsibility!"

Maya then let go of her, seeing the stunned look Ritsuko gave her. "I...I'm sorry... I don't know what came over me, I..."

"No... no apology needed." Ritsuko still tried to get over her surprise that Maya could be so aggressive. These harsh words however had managed to at least penetrate her wall of sorriness and she tried to get a hold on herself. "And don't worry, I won't quit... Gods... Without you I would have..."

"Sempai. I don't know what happened, and it isn't my place to meddle with your personal life. But I can see that right now you can't think straight. I suggest you take some time off, so that you can deal with whatever is weighting on you. We all want you to be alright."

"You...you are too nice for your own good, Maya. You're better with people than I could ever be... And I think you are right..." Ritsuko had never seen Maya as more than her assistant. It had never become fully clear to her that there is a true person with many sides, until now. Ritsuko still felt like going to pieces, and she also still felt like everything had turned against her, but at least this outburst had returned a little control to her. Enough to stop herself from doing something stupid.

"P-please don't say that. It is simply who I am..." Maya said, while needing to suppress some ideas of how being 'nice' with Ritsuko. _Dirty girl! She's clearly in pain at the moment. You can't have thoughts like this right now._

But she couldn't help it. She had fantasies like this for quite some time now. She had accepted that most likely they would stay a dream. But she could at least hope, even if it was a useless longing.

* * *

_...at the same time..._

In a holographic room, the council of SEELE was debating the latest developments. There was much to talk about, after recent events. The black monoliths were impersonal, as secrecy was the most important thing right now.

"How is the construction of the production models proceeding?" SEELE 09 asked.

"Everything is exactly in the timetable. No unplanned disturbances, no shortages of parts. We will be finished at the predicted date," SEELE 04 answered.

"Ikari's sudden stay in the hospital is suspicious. Right after the pilot was recovered, Ikari got hospitalized. Also, the reports from inside NERV seem to be too perfect," SEELE 12 noted, suspicion in his voice.

"Ikari is none of our concern for now. We know of the nature of the last two rouge Angels. The Vice-Commander will do as we tell him," Keel, SEELE 01, waved it off.

"Still, the events inside NERV are suspicious," SEELE 08 reminded him.

"True. Perhaps more aggressive ways of obtaining information need to be used. This will need further observation before an decision can be made," Keel acknowledged his concerns.

"What is our mole in the school reporting?" SEELE 07 asked number 02.

"She reports that the pilots have mostly returned to the old self. Frankly, the reports become rather useless, and our research shows, that she will die soon anyway. We should accelerate her demise, now that we won't need her services any longer," SEELE 02 suggested.

"It is true that she has outlived her usefulness. We will cut off this loose end," Keel agreed. Essentially he had just signed a death sentence as if it was an everyday occurrence.

* * *

_...three days later, school..._

It was a pretty normal school day.

Ever since the "release" of Shinji Ikari from "hospital" (which the official version was), his friends' mood had vastly improved. And with their mood getting better, everyone breathed in relief with the dark atmosphere being blown off. Everyone had returned to their normal selves. Of course Shinji hadn't returned to school yet. He was busy enough with catching up on the school stuff he had missed, and thus wasn't to be expected back until next Monday.

The pilots' lives also had returned to normal. Shinji's birthday party three days ago had been the best sign. Actually it was a double birthday party, since Rei had revealed that it was her birthday as well. Misato had used the occasion, to declare it the big, fat party. And it had been lots of fun. But now the normal day-to-day life had returned.

Right now it was in the middle of lunch break and Kensuke and Mayumi sat a little apart from the others. Mayumi however didn't seem to be hungry while Kensuke was busy with wolfing down his lunch. Finally he noticed it. "May, is something wrong?" he asked, using the new nickname he had given her (of course after she agreed with it). "You look a little green."

"I don't feel so good..." she answered uneasy, while holding her hand flat on her stomach. Truth to be told, she felt like this since waking up. Provably another bad shot, since the last time had also started after waking up. If it went like last time, she would be as sick as a dog at the evening. It already had become worse over the day. Soon it would all start again, her feeling like shit and throwing up like hell.

Kensuke only then realized that he had acted like an insensitive jerk with eating his lunch in front of her, oblivious of how she felt. "Damn... believe me, I didn't want to hurt your feelings. How couldn't I see that you don't feel well?"

"Don't be so hard to yourself..." That was one of the reasons why she liked Kensuke. Sure, he was strange and the fascination he held for his hobbies was something she probably would never understand at all, but since they had become good friends, he had tried to not hurt her feelings, even if he sometimes went overboard with apologizing if he did it unintentionally.

"Oops. Guess I'm still a little new with the idea of having a girl as a close friend. Sorry if I try to be too careful." While Mayumi had become more open during her time in Tokyo-3, she was still somewhat fragile, as if fearing that everything she had gained would be gone at the next moment. And despite them being close friends for quite some time now, it was clearly still new enough for both of them to become unsure what to do from time to time.

"Don't worry about it..." It was hard to shake off habits that had grown over years. After being the outsider for her entire life, she needed time to slowly grow out of it. Of course having her life fucked up by unseen people didn't help either.

"I hope I don't interrupt anything personal..."

Looking up, they both saw Mana approaching them with a smile that made them blush. It was clear what she had implied with that. "It is nothing like that. We were only... talking," Mayumi tried to defend herself.

"Don't worry. Regardless what you said, I don't think it's any of my business," Mana told her, while sitting down beside them. "I might tease you two, but I don't think you'd be able to do something perverted. You Mayumi are far too proper for that and Kensuke is simply too nice for it, despite him acting like a hentai sometimes."

That broke the ice and Mayumi giggled while Kensuke looked a little offended at being called a part-time hentai, although he knew that for some time it had been true.

"All of us seem to be in better spirits since Shinji got released with good health," Mayumi remarked.

"Yep. Even the red-haired menace seems to have lightened up, and that means something," Kensuke added, looking to Asuka, who was busy with talking to Hikari right now. "Ehm, you won't tell her that I called her that?"

"I'm not that mean." Mana knew that while Asuka had become much more bearable and hadn't any longer an ego the size of an Evangelion, she still had a low bullshit tolerance. And calling her names was one of the things that was guaranteed to make her really angry. "And Asuka might not be the nicest person, but she is trying."

Kensuke had nothing to add to this. He turned to Mayumi to ask her a question, but noticed that she had become pale. "May?"

"Kensuke, I..." She had felt strange all of a sudden. And right when she wanted to tell him something, a spike of pain shot though her, feeling as if her stomach was bursting. Her arms went around her mid-section in a useless attempt to contain the pain. "Ahhgg...That h.. -gasp-! Arrghhhhh..." Her entire stomach felt as if on fire. Falling to her knees she violently threw up, feeling it getting harder to stay awake when the pain flooded her senses.

"Oh my god!" Mana screamed in shock, when seeing that Mayumi's vomit was mixed with quite an amount of blood.

Mayumi felt her consciousness slipping. She knew only, that this probably would be a one-way ticket. Whatever had been done to her now came to take her with it. An end in pain. _And I haven't found the courage to ask him out... _The everything went dark around her.

Mana's scream had meanwhile brought other activity on the school yard to a halt. Many of the pupils were unsure what to do. But then one of the teachers ran to them. Seeing the pale Mayumi and the bloody mess she had vomited, he gasped. "I'll call the ambulance!" He then ran back inside to use the phone in the teacher's lounge.

Hikari was busy with adjusting Mayumi's position so that should she throw up again she wouldn't choke on her vomit, when Rei, who had approached them, gasped. It was an odd sensation that spread within her. It felt in a way like she did when an Angel was near, only much stronger. With an Angel, it was only a small background noise, but now it felt like her inactive S² reacted to something, and that was clearly Mayumi. Touching her for a second, Rei pulled back her hand, whipping out her cell phone.

"Rei?" Hikari wondered.

"Something is definitely wrong with her that a normal hospital can not cure," she said cryptically, before speed-dialing to NERV HQ. "Pilot Ayanami. This is an emergency. Preparation of the hospital for an emergency case. Code Blue, authority needed for re-direction of a civil ambulance. Pull Dr. Akagi out of her leave, this is highest priority."

"Was zum Hölle ist hier los?" _(What the hell is going on here?) _Asuka wondered. Rei was acting really strange. Why had she alerted the NERV hospital? A ruptured stomach wasn't something a civilian hospital couldn't fix as well. But she had long given up to understand this strange girl. Even now, Rei Ayanami was an enigma and Asuka felt that it was a waste of time to get out anything.

She herself had other problems right now. The feeling that there was something different with her Unit-02 grew with each day.

* * *

_...half an hour later..._

Ritsuko Akagi didn't know yet what exactly had been done to this girl, but whoever did it hadn't cared for her well-being. She had been called out of her leave, where she hadn't been able to find answers on the question how to approach the situation with her mother, brought into this whole mess. Their sensors were getting off the charts, and after they had put her under a scanner, Ritsuko had at once ordered an emergency surgery. Her personal problems right now had to stay back for this emergency, although after this was done, she would be still at square one.

Looking at the face of the girl on the surgery table, whose stomach they had cut open right now to remove the cause of the mortal danger to her, Ritsuko felt really sorry for her. To be so young and having to endure something this horrible. That, and the whole thing created questions that only this girl could answer. One way or another, the whole thing needed to be covered up.

_Who does something like this? _But she had a good guess already, considering the nature of the surgery.

Outside, everyone waited in silence for the result of the surgery. The children had pretty much decided to end their school day to wait for news, while Shinji, who had been in the HQ already, had interrupted his training to join them. Misato looked to the other side of the room, seeing Mishuko Aida, one of the white-collars of NERV, trying to calm down his son Kensuke.

Misato had pulled some strings to allow the boy to stay. She knew it would be horrible for him to be sent away while his friend was in a critical surgery. Poor Kensuke looked like a nervous wreck, proof how much he cared for Mayumi. Misato wondered if it was a curse; just when they had managed to return to normality, the next crisis struck them.

Looking around, she also spotted Asuka. It made Misato again wonder a little why she was here, since she remotely remembered the other children mentioning that she hadn't much association with Mayumi. She guessed that while some months ago Asuka wouldn't have cared at all, she now didn't want to look like a jerk to the others. That, and maybe deep down she did care a little after all.

Misato again wondered what had been so special about Mayumi's condition, that Rei had deemed it necessary for her to be treated here, with Ritsuko of all people as the leading doctor. But whatever Rei's reasons were, she didn't tell right now. But it had to be something serious, considering how Ritsuko had reacted after using the scanner.

Time seemed to slow down to a crawl, a hour feeling like a whole day.

Finally the door opened, revealing Ritsuko, followed by orderlies wheeling out a sleeping Mayumi. "She will be alright, although this had been a rescue in the last minute." She looked to Mr. Aida. "Mr. Aida, please escort your son to the room of the young lady. Although she won't be awake for some time, I think he wants to stay with her."

Misato waited until both of them were gone, before asking Ritsuko the important question. "Ok, so what exactly was wrong with her?"

Ritsuko took a deep breath. "I better show you. It's complicated."

Following her, the group went into one of the rooms beside the surgery rooms, where they saw a small cylinder being attached to a machine. The cylinder was filled with LCL, and in it floated something that looked like a red, pulsating, organic sphere. It was partly overgrown with organic growth that reached out like a kraken. And the worst was, that this thing seemed to be still alive.

"Yuck! What's that thing? Looks like a tumor," Toji said in disgust while looking at this thing, before realizing what this could mean. "Don't tell me you removed _that_ from her!"

"We did. It's what had almost killed her," Ritsuko stated, and everyone, with exception of Rei, turned a little green. Ritsuko had a guess why Rei wasn't affected. "As to what it is... That is essentially a prototype S² organ. However, something like this was never made for a fully human body, and it had started to grow at an uncontrolled rate. A little longer, and it would have burst her open in a bloody display before releasing its energy in form of heat. Afterwards, not even dental records would have helped to identify the remaining ash pile."

Rei held back a small wince. The only reason she could hold an S² was, that she actually wasn't fully human. Finally Hikari asked the logical question. "But why would she have something like this inside herself?"

"Only one possibility, someone had used her body as a testbed for growing an S² by inserting the seed into a body. Only one faction could know this secret... SEELE. This means she had some sort of connection with them," Ritsuko concluded.

"Ritsu, you don't think she works for them!" Misato gasped. Mayumi looked like a really nice girl. She was unable to imagine her working for SEELE.

"I didn't say that she did it on her free will. I suspect that there is more behind this, but only she can tell us the whole story. That opens the problem how much we can actually tell her and her boyfriend, two civilians who shouldn't hold this dangerous knowledge... But she will have to carry an even bigger burden..."

"What burden?" Misato hated it when Ritsuko didn't say it outright.

"You see, SEELE probably has calculated her death through the S². They would know that we know if she turns up alive. So to keep her safe from assassination and blowing our cover, no one can know that she survived. For the rest of the world it must look like Mayumi Yamagishi... has died."

_**to be continued...**_

_**Next Episode:**_

_**"Arael"**_


	30. Arael

I will say these things in advance: I have absolutely no rights to NGE, but you should have already known that.

The story itself is basically a re-telling of the original storyline, but twisted into my way. While at the beginning there seem to be only few deviances, it will become more with each episode. The people, their motivations and the backgrounds are while holding true to the basic layout, changed at my imagination in many details, so canon-purists now are allowed to flame me.

NOTE: I hate both, the ending of the TV series, and how End of Evangelion turned out. So don't expect either of those outcomes.

This is Shinji/Rei. Enter Arael, the brain butcher! However, things go different than you will think...

After you've read the chapter **Please Review!** Please tell me your opinion. I promise to answer every review I get.

* * *

**Chapter 29: Arael**

"Mhhhhhh..."

Mayumi felt like a fog was surrounding her head, making it impossible for her to make any kind of use of her brain. She felt incredibly weak and her head felt like put into cotton. She tried to remember what had happened. There was pain. Yes, horrible pain and the voices of her friends worrying over her before erupting into panic. Then there was nothing more.

The fog only lifted slowly. _Is this how it feels to be on the other side? There isn't much, only darkness. _Mayumi was a little disappointed.

"Urgl..." Mayumi corrected herself. She couldn't be dead when feeling like shit. _Wonder how I got out of this? At least the pain is gone..._

Slowly she again felt her body. There was something wrapped around her mid-section and she was lying in a bed. So this meant that after whatever had happened to her she had ended up in a hospital. This in itself was a wonder, since her captors had made it clear that only they could cure her.

Finally she opened her eyes... and was greeted with everything being a little blurry. Sure, she wasn't blind without her glasses, that only happened to anime characters, but without them her eyes had trouble to focus. Blinking several times, she tried to look around. There were people standing around her bed and... at that moment someone put her glasses on her nose, and everything around her became much clearer.

It was reassuring that these people standing around her bed were her friends, and Kensuke had been the one to give her her glasses. She also recognized Misato Katsuragi, although she looked a lot more serious in uniform. The other two people she didn't recognize. One was a blond woman who wore a lab coat over her uniform, the other was an older man with grey hair.

She again looked to Kensuke, who looked like a great burden had been taken from him with her waking up. "Oh Ken... I feel horrible." Kensuke seemed unsure what to say in this situation, so he opted to do the silent approach and held her hand to show his support.

It was the woman in the lab coat who finally broke the silence. "It is no wonder you feel weak. What we had removed from you would have been fatal if not for the immediate surgery. And I might add, it was something that clearly didn't belong there."

While Mayumi felt weak, her eyes widened when hearing this. Could it be possible? "What happened to me?"

"We hope that you can shed light on this." The old man finally spoke. "I am Vice-Commander Fuyutsuki of NERV. The foreign object found inside your body was composed of something that is strictly classified. That aroused our interest in how in got there in the first place."

Mayumi hesitated. "You...you wouldn't believe me. It is simply too far out to be believable."

"Oh, trust me. We won't simply not believe you. After being attacked by huge monsters on a regular basis, you learn to have an open mind. And now come... you can help us," Misato encouraged the girl.

She looked to Kensuke. "I trust them that they will believe you. Please May, I was so scared that something would happen to you. If someone did that to you, I want to see them punished," Kensuke told her.

Mayumi knew that Kensuke had some feelings for her, but not that they were so deep. But no, she wouldn't speak with him about that while so many people were present! Instead she composed herself for telling them what had happened to her. Then she began her story.

"It started after my parents died in a train wreck. I was put into an orphanage, but didn't stay there for long when I was told that someone had actually would take over guardianship of me. I arrived at a house only to get ambushed, tied up and knocked out. When I woke up, I was in a bare room, a cell. My jailers were wearing hoods, told me that I was picked just by coincidence for experimentation... They did things to me -although I don't remember what, since I was unconscious every time- over weeks, which I noticed left a small scar over my stomach. I had to take shots into the stomach, one a day, otherwise I would be in horrible pain."

Mayumi paused for some seconds before she continued. "They told me that only they could cure my condition. But they wanted me to do dirty footwork for them. I declined. They took away my shots to force me. I tried to be strong, but in the end the pain became too strong. I couldn't sleep because of it and felt as if I slowly went mad. I couldn't eat because I would throw up everything, and started to become weak. It became too much and I gave in. I had to report everything I could get about the pilots and would get more shots for it... I betrayed your trust... Gods I feel so dirty..." Mayumi couldn't hold back the tears any longer.

Seeing the girl dissolving into tears, the children broke their silence. "No, it's not your fault!" Hikari said firmly. "It is them alone. They forced you. You're not to blame."

"Yeah, we're not angry with you. We are angry with these assholes who did this to you," Toji said firmly, crossing his arms. "Damn, I wish I could give them a piece of my mind with my fists."

Kensuke again said nothing, but held the sobbing Mayumi, and that was more than enough of a message. "Gods-...I don't deserve...friends like you," she sobbed, still feeling the shame over what she had done.

The Vice-Commander nodded to Misato, that she should break the news to them. Misato waited until Mayumi had calmed down a little, before addressing her. "We actually do know the responsible party... However, first you and Kensuke must understand, that there is a lot of stuff we aren't allowed to tell civilians. It's for your own safety, I hope you understand." Hearing no protest after some seconds, she continued, "They are a really powerful secret organization and quite hostile to us, although for now they tolerate us. They are very dangerous and have no scruples, although I fear you know that already. What they had put into you was something we develop, but we would never experiment on humans. They also have a lot of spies around here. -sigh- That also makes me come to the point I hate to tell you..."

Mayumi dreaded what would come now, but Kensuke seemed to know. "Let me guess, to the outside world, she has to be dead, right? I've read enough novels to know that one."

"...Yes. Everyone has to think that she has died, or the enemy will try to kill her again, and our cover will be blown. Meaning that she can't leave the geofront and has to avoid to be seen by to many people even down here," she told them regretfully.

Mayumi felt very small when realizing that although she was free of the threat of dying, she yet wasn't totally free. She was again a prisoner, although this time it was for her protection and her 'jailers' wouldn't do her any harm. She clutched Kensuke's hand. Everyone saw that she obviously was scared, and her friends, Shinji, Hikari, Toji and even Rei (who despite her often indifferent looks had learned quite a bit about empathy) approached her, to help her through her distress.

They didn't want her to suffer.

While Mayumi was given strength by her friends, the adults had silently excused themselves and left the room to give them privacy. But before Misato could walk away, Asuka held her by her hand. "Misato, there's something I didn't want to mention in front of everyone."

Misato noticed that Asuka had become really serious, meaning that something had really made her worry. "Asuka, what happened? It's not something about Mayumi, right?"

She shook her head. "No. But Ayanami acted rather...strange when that happened in the school yard. She seemed on the edge, touched her... and then at once speed-dialed NERV for the emergency. Misato, how the hell could she have know what is going on?"

Misato raised an eyebrow, that sounded quite fishy to her. "Yeah, how? No one could have known that only NERV could help Mayumi with this special case." Misato looked thoughtful. "Despite how close Rei has come to us, she still has some secrets she doesn't want to tell us."

"You think we should tell lover-boy?" Asuka asked, looking to the closed door.

"No, better not. I don't see any harm right now... And Asuka, should you try to get it out on your own or tell Shinji, I will tell everyone you have panties with a bunny-motif," Misato warned her, although the threat didn't really sound serious. However, for Asuka, it was.

"You wouldn't dare!" Asuka gasped.

"Try me," Misato told her with dead-serious face, which however was accompanied by a smirk that ruined the effect. Typically Misato to try and salvage a situation so that it wouldn't become too burdensome. It seemeed she didn't want to again have bad mood.

"Misato, you're a mean blackmailer..." Asuka growled, while leaving. "Elender Erpresser... Hätte es wissen sollen..." she grumbled before she was gone from Misato's sight.

"She's still herself, even after becoming nicer," Misato chuckled, trying to shy away the tension. While the situation with Mayumi was serious and Rei's strange behaviors was an enigma, she had no desire to get a bad mood. She had enough of these over the last weeks. Good that it had worked.

Hoping that she could find Mr. Kaji to sustain her attempt to keep a good mood, she walked away, ignoring the small voice in her head that warned her, that she would come to regret slapping something bright over the current situation.

She didn't care, because she didn't want to admit a truth to herself: her way of shoving dark thoughts aside this way slowly became less and less effective. The seriousness of life had caught up with her.

* * *

_...meanwhile in a different room..._

Gendo Ikari felt as if a black hole had swallowed him up, like one of these Japanese soldiers who had holed up themselves on an island in the Pacific for many years, only to be told that WW II had been over since 1945. The truth that Yui despised everything he had done to get her back had hit him totally unprepared.

Dying from alcohol poisoning would have been a mercy. Instead he was now here in this hospital room for almost a week now. His hands were restrained since they didn't trust him not to do anything stupid to himself. They shouldn't have bothered, since all kind of drive had left him, even the ones to kill himself. He actually didn't feel like doing anything anymore, simply staring up on the ceiling while feeling sorry for himself. Not having tended to himself in all this time, he almost looked like a bum with his uncontrolled beard growth.

"Really fine you look right now."

This voice was perhaps the only thing that could have brought him out of his self-pity and return his attention to something else beside the ceiling. Looking to the wall, he saw Yui's face on the screen of the intercom station. He said nothing, only looked to her.

If Yui had expected him to say something, she was disappointed. "I said I wouldn't speak to you until you redeem yourself. But after hearing what you do right now, I wanted to see this myself and they patched me through... Gendo, right now you are a sorry sight..."

At first Gendo didn't reacted at all. Then he gave off a dry, bitter laugh that held no trace of amusement at all. Yui wondered if everything had been too much for him and he had lost it now, but his eyes didn't reflect any madness.

Finally he stopped, looking bitter to her. "How would you feel if 10 years of your life were flushed down the toilet? How would you feel if you're told that you fucked up with everything you did?" He returned to staring to the ceiling. "I have every right to be a sorry sight."

"Oh, really?" The way Yui said this made it clear that she didn't feel too sorry for him. "I thought you were stronger. So now you decided to wait until doomsday instead of trying to fix what you have broken?"

"Just leave me alone, Yui. Please don't add insult to injury..."

Yui snorted. "So you retreat into your shell? The Gendo I did know would have gotten his ass into motion and tried to repair the damage he had done. That you aren't capable of even this any longer says a lot." She then lost her angry expression. "As angry as as I am with you... I also can't believe how much you've changed... How much you have lost of yourself in these years, and you haven't even noticed. This is why a part of me also feels sorry for you."

Gendo didn't seem to react and Yui cut the connection, unable to any longer watch how deep Gendo had fallen. Gendo didn't react at all for minutes. Then he closed his eyes and a single tear escaped him. "Oh no Yui, I now know too well... I know too well what I have become."

And he was left alone with everything that weighted down on him and a burden that only he himself could lighten.

* * *

_...half an hour later..._

Making her suit skintight, Asuka tried to forget Misato's threat of revealing her choice of undergarments. She had decided that since the day was over for her anyway, she also could use her time for something more constructive. For some time now she had tried to get out why Unit-02 felt different than before, albeit with little success up to now.

It had been laughably easy to convince Lt. Ibuki that she just needed a little practice. Dr. Akagi had already left to return to her leave, so her assistant was responsible for the training regime. She wouldn't tell the woman that she really did this to try and make the EVA to reveal its secret. Ever since the incident in the 12th Angel, she felt as if there was something else inside the Evangelion that made her feel safe, made her feel that there was someone who cared for her. But surely it wasn't like Shinji's case.

Her mother had died outside the EVA because of severe sudden dementia. So that meant she couldn't be inside there and it had to be something else.

Checking her suit one last time, she had prepared herself for this to eventually taking hours (meaning she had made sure that there wouldn't be any unplanned bathroom trips). It had frustrated her that the red Evangelion's secret had eluded her so far. She didn't like to be kept in the dark. Everything checked, she walked to the cage.

While waiting in the elevator for the right level, her current situation came to her mind.

She wasn't any longer the Asuka of old, this Asuka had died inside the 12th Angel. But it was very difficult for her to settle into her "new life", as she had dubbed it. Before her change she had done everything to alienate the people around her, and it now came back to bite her big time. At school, she was avoided by most, either because of dislike or of fear.

As for the circle around the pilots... Kensuke held his distance to her, still remembering how she had treated him. Mayumi never had much to do with her to begin with and stayed clear of her. And while she and Mana were polite to each other, they weren't exactly close friends. And the other pilots themselves tried to be on peaceful terms with her. Shinji tried to be nice but she knew that it was how he treated most people. Rei had returned to having no like or dislike of her. Toji had made it clear that she shouldn't expect them to become great friends. Hikari was the closest to her.

Asuka sighed. _Trying to become a better person is really hard when everyone around you still sees the bitch... _she bitterly thought. _And what's even worse, I can't bring myself to make the first step towards the others. I want to be one of them, accepted into the circle..._

Asuka felt utterly alone, especially when seeing what the others shared. Shinji and Rei, Toji and Hikari, Kensuke and Mayumi. They cared deeply for each other. Asuka also longed for someone who would care as much for her. But there was no one. No one to hold her when she would cry, no one to give her a smile when she needed one.

Finally the elevator had arrived and she boarded Unit-02.

The minutes went by while she became focused on the task of trying to get the EVA to reveal some of its secrets to her. But her feeling of loneliness returned and she again wished that there could be someone for her. Closing her eyes, she tried to concentrate.

Then she felt... as if someone held her close, as if trying to comfort a little child that was crying. It felt so warm and comforting. She wanted to resist at first, but in the end she surrendered to this wonderful feeling that eased the weight on her heart. It felt so good that there seemed to be someone who cared for her, that she didn't want to think about.

She dimly wondered if he ears played tricks on her, when she heard a lullaby her mother had used while she was a little girl. But in the end she didn't care when she fell asleep to have a wonderful dream in which she saw herself finding real friends.

In the control room, the crew looked astounded at the picture of the sleeping Asuka.

"Uhm, do you think we should wake her up?" Lt. Hyuga wondered.

"Do YOU want to wake her up?" Lt. Aoba mock-asked him. He might like to occasional adrenaline trip, but he wasn't stupid. While having become nicer, Asuka could still be quite angry, if ticked off.

"Besides, looking at her brainwaves she seems to have a wonderful dream. I think we should let her sleep and only wake her up shortly before Major Katsuragi goes off-duty," Lt. Ibuki suggested.

"Yeah, that sounds best. But you wake her up," Lt. Hyuga agreed. While Asuka had become nicer, he didn't want to risk angering her by waking her up.

Turning up the volume, Lt. Aoba raised an eyebrow. "Boy, has anyone ever told her that she's snoring really loud? Sounds almost like a chainsaw," he remarked sarcastically when hearing the sound that Asuka produced.

"It is your funeral..." Makoto remarked, while returning his attention to his manga.

* * *

_...Tokyo-3 park, next day..._

The sky over Tokyo-3 was clouded and it looked like a possibility that it could rain. Not many people were outside thanks to the threat of being trapped in a rainstorm. Nonetheless, six teenagers met in the midst of Tokyo-3 park to have a quiet place to talk that afternoon.

"Had never seen Kensuke so eager to leave school. It's really hard for him to act like the boy broken with grief. Good that him running away from the school looks like him not wanting to be around anyone," Toji reported his feeling on the whole Kensuke-Mayumi issue.

Since officially Mayumi had died, all of them had to act as if really hurt by her 'death'. That was difficult enough. At least they could drop the act when under themselves and Kensuke didn't waste a second to visit Mayumi to keep her company (good thing that everyone had agreed it would be best to give him a limited pass for the hospital and the outside area of the geofront, one that wouldn't allow him access to any deeper levels). They knew it would be a hard time for both of them, but better than her being dead for real.

"And to image that we need to act like this for at least two weeks... I don't like lying to people," Hikari added, hoping that she could slowly ditch the act sooner than later. She didn't feel like herself doing this, lying to everyone else. "I'll be relieved when this whole mess is over and we can return to a normal life."

"Did we ever had a normal life?"

Everyone looked to Rei, their looks carrying the question what this was supposed to mean. She had learned what this look means. "The pilots of EVA never had what could be considered a normal life. Shinji's family history was totally changed because of it, turning his life into his current path. Pilot Soryu was raised to be a pilot since the age of four. Toji and Hikari both grew up in Tokyo-3 only because their families were specifically selected for the city by the government. And I myself have grown up with being a pilot as my only purpose..."

Someone who hadn't watched Rei slowly blossoming into a real girl with a life would have fainted at hearing something so insightful from her. But after witnessing her settling into a much more fulfilled life, a number of people had realized that Rei was more complex than she had let on. Asuka meanwhile barely avoided a wince. Being called 'Pilot Soryu' while Rei was on a first-name basis with everyone else was proof of the rift between them. In return, she only called Rei by her last name, Ayanami.

"Guess I'm the only one who has lived a life without ever getting touched by giant cyborgs until the order came," Mana remarked. "I had a nice, boring life until I spoke with a certain AI that became attached to me."

"Since you mention it... a lot of our classmates had their families being specifically selected for Tokyo-3, instead of just moving here. I wonder if there's more behind it?" Hikari wondered.

"If you think the big bads are behind this, why should they do this?" Shinji wondered.

Asuka snorted, obviously thinking of this as a stupid question. "Remember that these guys had nothing against experimenting on a girl and then forcing her to act like a mole. Everything can be suspicious. We should just ASK about it, OK?"

"Pilot Soryu's idea is reasonable. However, this is probably something Dr. Akagi knows, and she is on leave for now," Rei agreed.

That Rei agreed with Asuka wasn't something that happened every day. However, Asuka let out a loud sigh. "OK, I know you are probably still pissed off at how I treated you. But do me a favor and please drop the 'Pilot'! I also don't call you 'Pilot Ayanami' and stopped calling you 'Wonder girl'."

Rei had to admit to herself, she actually was still somewhat ticked off against Asuka and had stuck to call her this. But now that Asuka asked her to stop that, and pointing out that she didn't call her names anymore, she decided that she would drop it. "Good, Soryu, I will not any longer call you that."

"Thanks..." _It's at least a beginning... _After how badly she had treated Rei, it would be a good first step to get back on civil terms with her. She had learned something very important since her change: that she should try to be on good terms with her co-workers. Pissing off people without any reason could come back to bite her.

**-CRRRAAACKK-**

A loud crack of thunder shot through the air, accompanied by a lightning bolt.

"Great... looks like a thunderstorm is about to start," Mana groaned, looking at the dark clouds. She had learned that thunderstorms in this area usually mean that the city almost would get flooded and no one in their right mind would stay outside.

**-CCCRRIIIICCCKKKS-**

Another lightning bolt illuminated the dark clouds above them.

**-ooooooooooooouuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhh-**

That wasn't the thunder of a lightning bolt! At once the heads went up when they heard the howling of the alarm sirens in the entire city. They knew that it could mean only one thing...

Another Angel was about to attack.

* * *

_...NERV HQ..._

Everyone in NERV had went 100 percent professional as soon as the alarm had went off, knowing by now that this usually meant life-threatening danger where full concentration was needed. Everyone on the bridge was on their posts while the analysis came in.

"Our espionage satellite spotted it coming in from outer space," Lt. Aoba reported.

"We have visual contact, maximal magnification," Lt. Hyuga called, and the picture of the Angel above Earth appeared on the main screen. The Angel was big... really big. But unlike the 10th Angel, it wasn't really massive. It looked like a skeletal bird made of purest crystal, glowing in an eerie white. It would have been a wonderful, beautiful view, if not for the fact that this was a monster bent on killing all of them. The core of the Angel was clear to see, it held it in it's feet claws, probably attached to them.

Misato wasn't keen on another Angel attacking from outer space. The last one using this tactic had been bad enough. "What is this Angel doing? Is it attacking our satellites?"

"Actually it is doing nothing, just staying in a stationary orbit above Japan... Really strange as if it is waiting for something," Lt. Hyuga reported to Misato.

"Yes. No strange energy signatures, no movement at all. It just sits there," Lt. Aoba added, wondering what the Angel could plan with such a tactic.

Misato looked hard at the picture of the Angel. The peaceful looking ones were usually the worst. This rule applied to Angels and woman alike. "Two possibilities: Either the Angel still looks for a fitting place to land, or it really wants to attack us from orbit, which I don't hope since last time had been bad enough."

"If the Angel stays up there, it could be problematic, the EVA's aren't made to go against a target in outer space. So either we get an idea how to get it, or it will be a waiting game," Makoto reminded her, hoping that the Angel actually would come down so that they could destroy it.

"What about Dr. Akagi? I thought she agreed to return from her leave in case of an Angel attack?" the Vice-Commander asked, wondering where the woman was.

"We actually don't know. No one picked up the telephone in her apartment," Shigeru reported. He had called her three times, never getting an answer.

"What about the pilots?"

"They are all in their entry plugs and battle-ready," Maya reported, checking all five Evangelions for any kind of anomaly. "But question is, what should we do now...?"

o

Meanwhile in Earth-orbit, the Angel Arael had trouble to hold herself together.

_**Hhahahahaha-ha... Stupid, stupid Lilim! Ha Ha Ha! Y-y-you really will get me known very personally...hahahahaha! I'll burst your little brains open... Open, yes open and suck them out! Yesyesyesyes! **_she babbled in her madness while waiting for the right moment.

Her siblings generally avoided her, because they thought of her as being a totally mad psychopath. And they were right. Her gift made it possible to look at the minds of Lilim even from their place of exile, and she had made lots of use of it for centuries. They had warned her that this could be bad for her health, but she had ignored it. And then it already was too late. Her own mind simply had been unable to cope with being flooded by all these thoughts, even an Angel had it's limits, and she had snapped.

_**Oh yeeeeesssss, you'll cower before me. HAHAHA! Before I f-fry your little brains! Hahahahaha!**_

While she may have been empathic once, a gentle one to understand the needs of others, she now was almost totally mad and bloodthirsty. She didn't even notice any longer that her siblings openly called her a psycho. While she did know that she was there to rescue their father from the clutches of the Lilim, she mostly just wanted to live out all the sadistic energy she had pent up.

_**No-no-not yet! First come to me! I wait for youuuuu! HA HA HA HA!**_

Yes, total madness was what could describe Arael best. Total madness and a lust for unbelievably cruel violence against others.

o

"Dr. Ikari, do you think it will work if we use one of our positron rifles by setting it on overload?" Misato asked Yui, having asked Shinji to patch her through. Since Ritsuko wasn't present and Lt. Ibuki had openly admitted she had no idea if it would work, she now asked the other person competent in this field. Yui Ikari had a lot of time on her hands, having no need to sleep nor anything else to do, so she had passed it by studying the Evangelion equipment so that she could help in battle if needed.

"It could work... emphasis on 'could'. It's a formula with several unknown factors, one of them the strength of the AT-field. I don't see any problem in at least trying it, but looking at the weather... you know you need more than just satellite data to aim at the Angel," Yui reminded her.

Misato knew what she meant, when seeing on one of the screens the thunderstorm that raged over Tokyo-3. "I have a solution to this..." She looked to Maya. "Get the two biggest positron rifles ready." Then she looked to Shigeru. "Connect me to Major Hanson, we need Trident for this job."

Seconds later, the Major appeared on the screen. "Please tell you won't put Trident into danger," he said right off the bat, still remembering the incident with the 13th Angel, which had almost destroyed Trident.

Misato rolled her eyes, they couldn't use this right now. "No... we need it for data. Order Mana to ascend to above the clouds so that we can gather targeting data. Nothing dangerous at all."

Hanson looked a little unconvinced but then dropped it. "All right. She'll be there in a few minutes."

"Good... Hikari, Toji, you will man rifle number one. Asuka, Rei, you will man number two."

"What should I do?" Shinji wondered.

Misato shook her head. "Sorry, but these things are so big, it needs two Evangelions to use them. So you'll be on the catapult in case there is trouble."

Shinji looked a little disappointed, but then accepted that this time he had to take the backseat while around him, the operation to defeat this Angel would take place.

In orbit, Areal noticed that something happened.

_**Ahhhhh yesyesyes, you crawl out of your holes... ohhhh, what do you plan to do? **_Arael mocked when seeing even through the clouds that the Lilim were setting up their weapons. Not that she cared very much, partly because she felt safe, and mostly because her rational mind was clouded.

_**Hahahaha... try it! Try it! I-I will get you anywaaay! Hahahahahaha! **_she laughed in her madness.

"All right, I've linked my sensors to your computers... the Angel still isn't moving even a little bit," Mana reported.

Trident had ascended to above the cloud cover, thus being in a calm surroundings while below it, a thunderstorm raged. Mana still felt a little uneasy with piloting Trident after it got possessed by the Angel Bardiel, but that was nothing compared to the AI of Trident. Sure, the AI didn't have the range of human emotions. But it had enough to be deeply unsettled by what had happened. So both of them had an uneasy feeling right now.

"I don't know, but this seems too easy. This smells like some sort of trap," she thought aloud, wondering what kind of tactic this Angel might have. Unlike the last that had attacked from orbit, it hadn't done anything yet.

"What kind of trap could involve sitting there like a big target?" Toji wondered over radio, while being busy with setting up the positron cannon they planned to use to attack the Angel. By now Tokyo-3 was covered by a massive thunderstorm, masses of rain pouring down on the city and lightning danced through the clouds.

"Who cares?" Asuka said, "If we blast it away fast enough, we will never get the answer, and **I** can live with _that_." She left no doubt that she hoped to get rid of this Angel fast enough.

Hikari didn't want to remind Asuka over radio that it was this 'strike fast and hard'-mindset that had almost killed her in the 12th Angel. After this was over, she would remind her of this in the locker room. She didn't want her friend getting hurt because she became overconfident.

Finally both cannons were set and they prepared for firing on the Angel.

"Toji, you think we can get this one like this?" Hikari asked her partner while the computer homed in on the target and she was using the targeting gear.

"Even if not, maybe we'll make it come down," Toji answered, while steadying the weapon. "That thing doesn't look very tough, one good hit and it's gone."

_**Hahahahahahah... g-good try... But now take THIS!**_

**-schiiiii-**

A bright beam of light suddenly emerged from Arael, piercing the clouds, hitting directly the Units 03 and 04! Alarms went off at once and everyone became hectic in trying to find out what kind attack this was supposed to be.

Misato hadn't expected anything like this. "What the hell is that?"

"It... it is almost like normal light, but mixed into a sort of AT-field," Lt. Hyuga tried to analyze, although it was clear he had no idea what this strange weapon was supposed to be.

"AAAHHHHH!"

"NOOOARGHHH!"

They had no time to ponder this question, when suddenly they heard Toji and Hikari SCREAMING and saw the two Evangelions staggering away from their post at the weapon, hitting the empty air around them as if trying to scare away a swarm of bees.

The gauges on Maya's instruments were going haywire and she looked panicked at some of the graphs. "Their brainwaves are getting out of control! It is attacking their mind!"

"NO! STAY OU! STAY OUT!"

"DON'T FORCE ME... NOOOOO!"

The screams of terror from Toji and Hikari made everyone look at this scene in horror. Misato knew, now they needed to act fast. "Shoot it down!"

Asuka and Rei didn't hesitate and as soon as the computer had locked on, they fired at once. The energy projectile flew in an arc outside the atmosphere, hitting the Angel's AT-field. However, said field was far too strong for the projectile to break through. It scattered harmlessly.

Arael wasn't impressed in the slightest. _**No no no... Ev-everyone had to wait for THEIR turn! Hahahahaha! And now let the show begin! JAHAHAHAHA!**_

"Useless, we need double the energy to break through the field!" Lt. Hyuga reported.

"No, get out of my head!" Toji wailed, while the Angel mercilessly attacked his fears and insecurities.

_"No, I'm no weakling!"_

_"You gravely disappointed us. You were too late, too absorbed with yourself to care for your little sister..."_

_"My legs! I can't feel my legs!"_

"Leave me alone! Leave me alone! No, please, no!" Hikari was in panic, but it was to no avail, the walls to her mind were shattered.

_"No, why are you all turning away from me? I want friends! I'm not only strict and humorless!"_

_"And it is clear you failed! Failed! FAILED!"_

_"We trusted you, and you failed, leading to all our deaths... Look at the bodies of your family, our bodies, lying here..."_

"You goddamn monster! Stop it!" Asuka screamed, firing more times at the Angel, hoping that this could distract it. "Leave them alone!" More shots. "Damn it, Rei! Steady the weapon, we need to get it down before it fries their brains!"

Rei had noticed that Asuka had called her 'Rei', but this wasn't important right now. Seeing what this weapon was doing to her friends had deeply shocked her. The idea of getting her mind attacked was so horrible, it even filled her, who only seldom felt frightened, with fear.

"GODS NO!"

_"You are just a big brute...Get lost!"_

"AHH!"

_"Why have you left us to our fate, sister?"_

_**Yesyesyesyes! Come to mommy! Hahahahahaha! And now let go deeeeper! **_Laughing like mad while having her fun, Arael intensified her efforts to practically rape these minds before frying them.

"It doesn't work!... They will die if we don't have a different idea fast!" Lt. Hyuga frenetically reported.

"Their minds won't take this punishment for long!" Lt. Ibuki added, holding back her tears when hearing the scream of horror from these two children. She had been called emotional, and she accepted that she was this way. This made it even harder for her to hear them suffering.

Vice-Commander Fuyutsuki, watching everything from the command level, had a hard time to decide what to do.

On on hand he knew a way to surely destroy the Angel, on the other hand would it bring them the anger of SEELE. But if he didn't decide to use it, the Angel would have no trouble to kill the pilots and then anyone else it encountered. But in the end, his concern for the pilots won over the concern of his own safety. Even if he would get into deep trouble with SEELE for it, his conscience didn't allow him to sacrifice the lives of their pilots. Also, he saw no alternatives to defeat this monster.

"Pilot Ayanami, enter the central shaft to get the Lance of Longinus! Pilot Ikari, take over her post at the weapon, continue firing to distract the Angel!" he finally ordered, seeing it as the only way to stop this madness.

"But if the lance is removed..." Misato knew what consequences this could have.

The Vice-Commander knew this as well. "Yes, but we can still deal with Lilith at a later date."

_"You will never be strong enough! You are WEAK! Too weak to be of any use at all!"_

Rei descended to central shaft as fast as she could, before making a running start to reach the chamber of Lilith as fast as possible. She had been briefed what this lance could do, and thus knew why she was ordered to get it. Even if it meant to remove the bindings from Lilith.

_"You are a nobody. No one cares for you. You, the stiff and prude girl that acts like a dragon."_

Hastily entering the big chamber, Rei again got this bad feeling when being near Lilith. She ignored it, instead grabbed the lance with both hands of her EVA, and yanked at it. It took effort, but finally she managed to pull it out. At once Lilith's entire lower body regenerated, again making her complete. Rei didn't have any eye for it, running back to the central shaft to get to the surface.

Lilith didn't move... _**Ha ha ha... Stupid spawn of mine...**_

"Their brainwaves are getting weaker!" Maya reported, looking alerted at the screen showing the brain activity.

"This damn monster is killing them and we can't do anything!" Shinji cursed as much in anger as in panic. They had overheated their weapon and it became useless. He and Asuka could do nothing but watching helpless while their friends were tortured.

_"No one loves you... All hate you. You are a loser..."_

"GOTTVERDAMMT NOCH MAL! Dieser verdammte Scheißengel!" _(GODDAMN! This damn, fucking Angel!)_ Asuka cursed, her anger making her skip to her native language. She felt so helpless. She knew trying to get them out of the beam only meant them getting attacked as well. There was nothing they could do.

_"You are alone...all alone. And it is all your own fault..."_

_**Yahahaha! And now the end is NEAR! HA HA HA HA!**_

Finally Unit-00 arrived back on the surface, holding the Lance of Longinus that they had seen being stuck in Lilith's chest. At once getting reading to throw the lance, Rei followed the calculations made by the computer. Mixed into her determination was anger... lots of anger. This Angel had hurt her friends the worst way possible. It had attacked the one thing that was most holy to every human: their minds. This was an especially horrible crime for her, since Rei defined herself not over her bodily existence, but by her mind, and thus knew that the Angel attacked the core of her friends.

"Leave them alone!" she spat, her emotion overcoming her, before throwing the lance. The lance ripped away the storm over the city, literally vaporising the clouds, before shooting out into space under its own propulsion, heading directly for Arael.

_**W-Wha? No! NO! Not this!**_Even in her madness, she knew at once what this thing was that headed for her, stopping the beam and beefing up her AT-field to maximum. The lance slammed into her field, and at first it seemed to slow down. But then it rotated like a drill, breaking through the field. In on move it shattered her core before slamming through Arael!

_**Noooo... Noooo... All these beautiful braiiinnnsss..s..s... **_Dying, Arael's crystalline body broke apart into a cloud of crystal shards. A strangely beautiful display considering that it was a violent death. The lance meanwhile shot further forward, before impacting into the Moon, getting stuck onto the surface of Earth's natural satellite.

"Target destroyed! Both Evangelions are freed!" Lt. Hyuga reported.

"The brainwaves of the pilots are returning to normal... but they have passed out," reported Lt. Ibuki.

The Vice-Commander was relieved that they had made it just in time, then remembered the lance. "What happened to the lance?"

"It impacted on the Moon. An object of this size is impossible to recover from there... meaning that we have lost the lance," Lt. Hyuga told him, after checking the sensors.

But they quickly forgot the lance for now. They had more pressing problems.

They had to get the two pilots out of the entry plugs, and they had no idea how badly this mental attack had hit these two. As to how both collapsed Evangelions looked to someone... Mana gasped when seeing them when finally arriving in Tokyo-3. She had heard everything over radio but had been unable to help in any way.

They could only guess how Toji and Hikari would feel once they wake up. And Misato wondered, where Ritsuko was, as she hadn't either shown up nor answered their calls...

_**to be continued...**_

_**Next Episode:**_

_**"Aftermath"**_


	31. Aftermath

I will say these things in advance: I have absolutely no rights to NGE, but you should have already known that.

The story itself is basically a re-telling of the original storyline, but twisted into my way. While at the beginning there seem to be only few deviances, it will become more with each episode. The people, their motivations and the backgrounds are while holding true to the basic layout, changed at my imagination in many details, so canon-purists now are allowed to flame me.

NOTE: I hate both, the ending of the TV series, and how End of Evangelion turned out. So don't expect either of those outcomes.

This is Shinji/Rei. Now this chapter is something special. I managed a chapter where neither Shinji, Rei nor Asuka appear at all. But I think you still will love it anyway.

After you've read the chapter, **please Review!** Please tell me your opinion. I promise to answer every review I get.

* * *

**Chapter 30: Aftermath**

"And how long do the doctors say, until they'll wake up?" Ryoji asked Misato while they were on the way to Dr. Akagi's apartment. He would never openly admit it, but he did have a soft spot for the children and cared a lot about them. He knew that Misato wanted to be with them right now, but the Vice-Commander had ordered them to see what had stopped Dr. Akagi from contacting them.

"Sometime later today. The stuff they gave them is strong. They say it's better for them to rest for the meantime, after the enormous stress they went through... Gods, the poor kids will be really messed up. Their parents really couldn't use these news after the last hospital stay. They looked really scared that it could be serious this time," Misato told him, while driving in her usual kamikaze-style.

"Yeah, poor kids. It's those scars you don't see..." he thought aloud.

Both, Misato and himself, had such scars and tried to hide them. He had done so by overdoing the macho act, although by now he had grown out of it. Misato tried to do so by slapping some good mood over inner problems. However, he clearly saw that time had made her more mature and this tactic began to lose its power.

_Question is, when she is going to finally confront what is weighting on her? Despite how much she has gained, I can see that she still can't let go of the past..._

"At least Toji and Hikari still have their loved ones, unlike us back then..." Misato didn't really want to remember that time, but she couldn't stop it. And after the latest disaster she had no desire to slap some artificial cheerfulness over it.

Ryoji stayed silent about that. Almost everyone had lost at least one relative in the disaster; some much more... like him, as he had lost everyone. But he was jerked out of his thoughts when Misato took a hard turn and his head almost smashed into the side window.

"Urgh! Your driving hasn't improved at all over the years!" he complained.

"You live dangerous..." she warned him, although she didn't mean it. She knew that her driving style was reckless. She remembered a scene from their college days, when his car was in the shop, and she tried to borrow a car for a date from one of her friends.

_"So you want my son to lend you MY car, yes?" _

_"Eh, I can't. It's in the shop...uhmm, the window washers." _

_"You? My car? NEVER AGAIN!" 'The first time had been enough...'_

_"No way! The paintjob is fresh!"_

_'Everyone. Everyone... But not HER!'_

She was pulled out of her memories of that evening, when she heard Kaji chuckle a little. "You actually find that funny?"

"Oh, I know you wouldn't get worked up over such a minor thing like this." Then the humor had run its course and he became more serious. "Any idea why Ritsuko hadn't answered the phone? I feel that there is something not right."

"Yeah... Ritsu is usually so reliable. You remember the professor who almost got a shock when she was ten seconds too late?" Misato didn't know what could keep her friend from answering the phone. "Well, we're going to find out soon enough. There is her apartment building."

Stopping in front of the house, a building that looked much like Misato's apartment block, they both left the car and went up the stairs to Ritsuko's apartment. However, they knew that something was wrong, when they saw that the door was ajar. Drawing their weapons, they carefully searched through the apartment, but no one was home. However, other than the open door, everything looked in order, with nothing amiss. No signs of a fight at all.

"Misato.... Come and look at this," Ryoji called, when finding something interesting.

Entering the bathroom, Misato saw a full tub, Ritsuko's clothes on a chair beside it, and a trail of dried water spots that led from the tub to the door. "Ritsu had had a bath. But since her clothes are still here and the tub still full, it seems she didn't leave it on her own will," she concluded. She had a sinking feeling that Ritsuko was in trouble.

"Damn it, I can think who has taken her. Come, we need to do some serious digging if we want to get her out of that." He didn't wait for her approval, pulling her along by the hand. He knew that there was only one faction who could want something from Ritsuko and abduct her like this, and they were not to be taken lightly.

"Hey, Ryoji! What the hell is going on?" Misato protested. While she liked his serious side, right now he scared her a little with his sudden shift of mood. It also troubled her, since him becoming like this meant that trouble was on the way.

"I wish this wouldn't have happened." Ryoji stopped, letting go of her hand. "Misato, our friend is in serious trouble. I can think of only one faction who could want to abduct her. And if we want to get her back in one piece in case she says the wrong things, we should better hurry."

Now Misato understood what he meant. "SEELE..."

* * *

_...in an unknown location..._

Ritsuko felt that she must have the worst of all luck to end up in such a situation.

At the morning, she had woken up, still sleepy, and decided to take a relaxing, warm bath to begin the day. She however had been still tired enough to fall asleep while sitting in the tub. And when she had woken up again, she had found herself in the current situation.

A cell of barely three by three meters, dimly illuminated. The thick steel door was firmly locked. The only other two things of note were the hard cot on which she had awakened and a square hole in the floor which obviously was there for certain body functions. And what's worse, her kidnappers obviously had taken her directly from the tub. She was totally naked and the cool air made her shiver, not to speak of her embarrassment.

She hadn't much doubt who was behind her abduction. It seemed SEELE wanted to question her on their turf about something, and the rude methods meant that they weren't kidding around. She only wondered why it took them so long to actually question her (and she prayed that they wouldn't do so while she was like this).

The waiting was the worst. She had no clock, and didn't see the outside, but it felt like hours had went by. And she only sat there, wondering what would happen, and having her humiliation risen to a new level when she couldn't any longer put off using this damn hole.

Bizarre enough, her imprisonment gave her the one thing that she hadn't achieved during her leave: with really nothing else to do, she was forced to think about what had troubled her for days now.

She had always distracted herself so that she wouldn't have to deal with the depressing truth, that Gendo had used both, her and her mother, using them like disposable goods. And now Naoko Akagi was in Unit-00, explaining why it had totally gone bonkers two times. It was the sheer anger of her mother at how she had been wronged.

_No wonder... I would be pissed as well. I wonder how much control she actually has? Yui Ikari has very little and her absorbtion was under more normal terms... Gods, I already think like that! She is in there, so what should I do?_

She remembered her mother telling her once that should something happen to her she would appreciate it if Ritsuko would help her, but said right after that, that if Ritsuko abandoned her more important duties over it, she had her priorities wrong.

_I can hear her saying "Don't you dare to stop your important duty over me". Well, at least she is safe in there, inside one of the best battle machines in the world... Gods, I now already act as if I got used to the idea of her in there!_

Shaking her head, Ritsuko tried to ignore what her head said, and listened to what her heart thought about the situation. _Ok, I'm starting to develop a hatred for Gendo -how the hell could I have ever thought he felt something for me?- and while I'm still shell-shocked at where mom is, I'm yet also in a way relieved that she isn't gone... -Sigh-... Mom, what would you do in my place?_

Ritsuko felt so helpless, since there was nothing at all she could do for her. She had never been that good with matters of the heart. She was a woman who loved facts, but now these facts were something she had a hard time to fully accept.

_I swear it, should I get out, I shall tell Unit-00 to the face about what I feel!_

Right at that moment, the cell door opened, and a man armed with a rifle, dressed completely in black with only his eyes visible from behind his facemask looked to her. "Follow me, now!"

She knew she had no choice, facing the barrel of the weapon. She was sure this guy got off at seeing her like this, while he escorted her down a bare corridor. Finally they stopped in front of another door. "They wait for you," the guard only said, and the door opened. "Go in."

Doing so, Ritsuko heard the door shut behind her. Seeing a lit spot in the middle of the darkness, she moved there, having the bad feeling that she knew what would be coming now. And indeed, as soon as she stopped, twelve black monoliths appeared around her, holographic representations of the SEELE council.

"I hope you won't mind the unusual circumstances, Dr. Akagi," Keel greeted her, as if nothing was wrong.

Ritsuko wasn't fooled for a second. "Don't worry. I don't feel embarrassed." It was a total lie, she only hid her embarrassment. She also felt gravely humiliated that these old men looked at her naked form. _Stay concentrated, they surely want to grill you... _"To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"A strong woman. That's probably why Ikari wants to keep her company," SEELE 06 commented, slight amusement in his voice.

Then SEELE 11 added "As for why you are here. We want answers. Remember that lying to us will be punished with death."

Ritsuko tensed up a little. That meant that they somehow had become mistrustful and wanted to question her personally to see if anything suspicious or any holes in her story would show. And they made sure she would be nervous. _Ok, full concentration. Remember what the senior staff agreed on as the cover story!_

"Yes, especially after today's events, we want to make sure that we will hear the truth..." Keel added, making Ritsuko wonder what had happened.

Then the questioning began.

Later, she had no idea how much time had passed, she was back in her cell, the only thing different in it was a plastic bottle with water that had been deposited there during her absence. _How nice, they want to keep me hydrated..._

This had been one of the worst moments in her life. Being naked before the committee, keeping her pokerface while being totally humiliated, having to stick to the story without making any errors. At least it seemed that they were satisfied for now, although she still had no idea what had happened. She had no illusions that they would question her second time, seeing that they still were mistrustful.

Lying down on the hard cot, she wondered what had riled up SEELE so much. _I wonder what has happened that they were so agitated? And mother, should I get out of here, I WILL tell you to the face what I think of what happened to you..._

* * *

_...Tokyo-3, hours later..._

The Horakis, Kodama, Nozomi, Mr. Suzuhara and Kasumi were waiting with patience for Hikari and Toji to wake up. Ever since they got the call earlier the day shortly after the end of the alert, that the latest Angel had hurt them. And while they knew that with the path these two had chosen there was always danger involved, the nature of this attack had scared them. The mere idea that this Angel had directly attacked their minds was frightening.

The other pilots weren't present right now. While they said that Hikari and Toji are their friends, they thought that this moment right now should be for family only, and that these two probably needed the closeness of their families right now.

The silence was broken, when Toji stared to stir. His sleep, that before had been aided by the medication, was starting to become shallow and the contents of his troubled dreams made him react. "No... Not...weak... failed..."

Mr. Suzuhara and Kasumi guessed that whatever he was dreaming, it was an aftereffect of the attack.

Suddenly in a second Toji's eyes slammed open and he sat straight up in the bed screaming "HIKARI, NOOO!" His energy spent after this short outburst, he covered his face in his hands, sobbing. "Why couldn't I save you...?"

"Son?" Mr. Suzuhara asked him careful, seeing that Toji right now wasn't the most stable.

"D-dad?" Toji seemed disoriented. Looking up his tear-soaked eyes needed some time before realizing that he was in a hospital room. He looked confused when he saw Hikari lying in another bed and his sister standing by his bedside. "H-how...? But I saw..."

His baby sister Kasumi normally was a cheerful person. She even was during the time of her injury. But seeing her older brother so confused, she decided to be direct. "You had a bad dream. Nothing more."

"No! You have no idea!" Holding his head he looked as if he had seen a ghost. "It...It... it forced me to live through my nightmares... Everything I fear most! Gods! Everyone shunned me... Said that I'm a brute yet weak... I would never be strong enough, and then I couldn't feel my legs any longer.... Then... then... Dad disowned me since I couldn't save you... Said I was too self-absorbed... I saw your broken body... No loved me, everyone hated me... And... And then..."

Toji looked ready to start crying. "...I saw Hikari's dead body!...And everyone said I couldn't save her!...I was too weak to save her...." Unable to hold them back any longer, the tears flowed freely.

The Horakis watched from the other side of the room father and sister hugging the sobbing Toji.

Seeing how much the boy had been scared by the experience, they feared the worst for Hikari. Seeing as right now she started to turn violently from one side to the other in the bed, she probably was going through a nightmare as well.

"Not a failure...please... No... NO!" She didn't sit up like Toji when she woke up. Instead she held the bed sheet in a death grip and ripped it almost completely in two. She also didn't scream, but her rapid breathing and wide open eyes were answer enough to what her state of mind was.

"Darling, how do you feel?" Mrs. Horaki asked, although she knew that it was a stupid question.

Hikari looked around, trying to find out where she was. She had been in a world of nightmares. Only after some seconds, she realized that she was lying in a hospital bed, her family surrounding it. "It was so real.... It felt real... Gods..."

They knew this side of her. She tried to hold back her emotions. However, it didn't work this time and her eyes watered when all the emotion became too much for her. "Horrible... so horrible... I... Everyone turned away from me... Called me a stiff prude... I was totally alone... Died... All of you... Your spirits accused me of disappointing their trust... And...and... He fought while I was scared... he died in battle... And it all felt real!"

The end result was the same as Toji's: she dissolved into tears, while her family tried to console her.

It left two families wondering what they could do to raise the spirits of these two, who had been put through their worst fears.

* * *

_...Tokyo-2, the next day..._

"Another dead end. I feel as if we are on a wild goose chase. Are you sure you know where they could have brought her?" Misato asked Ryoji, after they had scouted out another possible location where SEELE could have abducted Ritsuko to. But it was abandoned, like the last three.

"I thought I do... Guess they don't trust me as much as I've thought and fed me several bogus locations, just in case," he answered, thoughtful. "Some time ago I would have thought of them as being paranoid. But now... quite clever to cost me valuable time in case I make trouble."

Misato knew, if Ryoji said this, he indeed was impressed at so much foresight. "How many places are left?"

"Only one, in the building at the docks. But we should be careful and take our time since this will be our target," he cautioned her, while they entered the car. "Would've never thought that we have to come to her rescue, since a scientist sounded like a boring job."

"None of us would've thought in college that we would lead the lives we do now.... You know, I never thought much about the future, living into the day. I would've been scared to see how much I've changed by now."

"Same to me. All the responsibility tends to force you to grow up, if you want or not," Ryoji answered, while wondering why Misato had said this. "You know, you've been pretty quiet in the last days. Normally you're more talkative."

"After what happened recently, I don't feel like it... It made me think way too much..." Misato said nothing more after it.

She didn't want to burden him with it, but in these days, she had become aware how everyone was slowly changing. The children started to grow up and were on their way to become adults. Ritsuko seemed in an emotional chaos that didn't fit with the controlled woman she knew. Commander Ikari had become a wreck, nothing left of the once cold man... Only she, she tried to hold up the status quo while her own life already had changed so much.

_How does Ryoji do it? He told me that he is at peace with what happened in the past. Or maybe I'm weak since I can't find the strength to fully embrace what I currently have and move on..._

Sure, her life had changed a lot, mostly for the better, but something inside her still didn't want to accept it. After the last weeks, with bad news really souring her mood, her usual tactics of dealing with it had proven useless. The seriousness of life had caught up with her. Interestingly enough however, together with Ryoji, she had been able to come to terms with some of it.

And her life was changing like this -her growing so close to him, sharing her secrets with him- that was also a reason why a part of her was scared. While her life was now much more fulfilled than before, part of her didn't trust this change.

She was pulled out of her thoughts, when she heard Ryoji answering his cell phone.

"Yes... What?... I understand, we'll see if we can do something." Closing his phone, he looked to Misato. "Vice-Commander Fuyutsuki has vanished without a trace. His card was registered at the subway station, but he never arrived in the geofront. Guess who the main suspect is?"

"Damn it! Now they have him as well!" Misato cursed.

* * *

_...SEELE's prison-house..._

Kozo Fuyutsuki's day had started so good. Apart from the issue of the still missing Ritsuko Akagi and two pilots who were in no shape to pilot at the moment, it had been a quiet morning. After paying respects to his deceased wife at his small shrine, enjoying some good coffee and reading the latest news, he had went to the subway station to get to the geofront.

It was in the subway, where the trouble had started.

He should have known the three men in dark trenchcoats looked really suspicious. But he had ignored them until he had felt strong hands seizing his arm and a needle penetrating. After that there was darkness, until he woke up in a cell. He knew exactly the ones behind this. It seemed that SEELE had become quite nervous. First Dr. Akagi, now him.

Going through the story they had agreed on, he waited for someone to bring him before the council. He didn't have to wait for long, when an armed guard opened the door, telling him under no terms to follow. And this was how he had ended up here, standing in a dark room, facing the monolithic representations of the SEELE council.

They didn't wait and at once went to business. "Professor Fuyutsuki. You ordered the usage of the Lance of Longinus without our approval," SEELE 09 accused him at once.

"Yes, explain yourself," SEELE 11 added.

_'Professor'... If they call me that, I'm right now replaceable for them... _he thought in worry. His usage of the lance didn't sit well with them.

He knew, he had to stick to the story they had agreed to. "The last Angel attacked from outer space, totally outside from our attack range. It was in the process of destroying two of our pilots. I made the decision to order the usage of the lance to destroy the Angel. The responsibility is all mine."

"Do you know what you have done?! Now the lance is lost to us, we can't recover it from the Moon. The lance was an important part in stabilizing the scenario. Now you have made things much more complicated. Since you take responsibility, we will decide on punishment, should your decision create a situation that goes against our scenario," SEELE 04 coldly told him.

_They are really angry... I wonder why they are so fixated on keeping Lilith out of the way... _Fuyutsuki wondered.

Keel, who had been silent up to now, spoke. "You are as disobedient as Ikari. Only the fact that for years now you've been one of our most obedient subjects stops us from executing an immediate punishment. But we will question you further, before letting you go at a later time. Consider yourself on the red list, professor. We will watch every of your moves. One more act of disobedience, and you won't see the next day."

Fuyutsuki knew that was no idle threat. SEELE was really angry over the loss of the Lance of Longinus. Steeling himself, he prepared for the now coming questions that were intended to test his loyalty. Since he had a good idea that they had already questioned Dr. Akagi, he double-checked that there wouldn't be any holes in the story.

Half an hour later, he found himself back in his cell.

He had done everything to divert any suspicion from them, and he felt that his act was successful. He knew that if that hadn't been the case, he wouldn't be here now. Sitting down on the cot, he knew that he now could only wait until either they'd let him go or someone would come to his rescue.

_This is one of these days where I wish I had visited my grandchildren..._

* * *

_...Tokyo-3..._

"I've never seen his so quiet. Normally he's such a goof and joyful person. He scares me a little," Kasumi told her father while they watched Toji looking absent-minded out of the window overlooking the city.

There had been no reason for Toji and Hikari to remain in the hospital, since physically they were fine and the doctors said that while the experience had rattled them, there was no risk of them hurting themselves. But while they had accepted by then that what they had lived through wasn't real, being trapped in their deepest fears had left mental scars.

Toji, who normally was an outgoing and livery teenager, had become really quiet, always looking distantly out of the window, as if deep in thoughts, waving off every concern that something was wrong. But they weren't fooled, they saw the look in his eyes. The whole thing was eating at him. And several times they had heard him whisper in the lines of that he wondered if he really was like this.

Mr. Suzuhara looked to his daughter. "I can't blame him. You were too young to remember it, but I was a lot like this when your mother died. I hurt so bad that I shut out everyone else. It took me time and both of you to come out of it."

Kasumi looked to Toji and then to her father. "Then why is he shutting us out? Don't we mean something to him?"

"Of course we are important to him, sweetie. But my years make me a little wiser and I know that he needs someone who means something different to him," he carefully explained. "You have already met her."

Kasumi at first didn't understand. Then it hit her. "You mean his girlfriend Hikari? But she's as bad off as he is, if not worse. How can she help him if she's also like this?"

Mr. Suzuhara didn't answer. But he knew, only Toji and Hikari together had a chance to get the strength needed to get through this. It was worst luck that both of them were hit in the same strike, making it impossible for one of the two comforting the other.

Finally he said: "That is the big question..."

Meanwhile, in the Horaki household, a different conversation was taking place.

"Mom, this is starting to get ridiculous!" Kodama complained to Mrs. Horaki in the kitchen after she was sure that Hikari was upstairs and outside of hearing range.

"Kodama..." Mrs. Horaki tried to stop the rant of her oldest daughter.

But Kodama didn't want to hear any of it. Her nerves were paper-thin by now. "Oh no, Mom! This can't go on! I admit I'm no saint and thus have LOTS of patience with other people's quirks. But should Hikari continue like this for days to come, I'm going to become nuts!"

"Well, maybe she is overdoing it..."

Kodama snorted. "Please! My younger sister has turned into a restless workaholic who tries to do EVERYTHING in this house at the same time. She blocks off every attempt to talk to her. I know that she likes to relieve you of some of the work, but this is obsessive!"

Mrs. Horaki sighed. "All right, but do you know why she is doing this? I thought so... She is hurting. I can see it in her eyes. She can't cope with the memories and throws herself into all this work so that she won't have to think about it."

Kodama raised an eyebrow. "She's trying to distract herself so she won't have to deal with all the shit in her head?"

Mrs. Horaki bristled at her oldest' choice of words. "Watch your words, and yes. Typically Hikari. She doesn't want to burden us with her problems. The sad thing is that it will become only worse with her acting like this. If she would only talk to us..."

"If not us, why not to her big boy? I'm sure he wants to listen to her."

Mrs. Horaki shook her head. "I doubt that would work. Remember he went through the same. He has his own problems."

She didn't say it, but she felt helpless, seeing how Hikari's deepest fears started to eat her up on the inside. A mother was always concerned for her children. And being so helpless was something no mother wanted to experience.

* * *

_...near SEELE's prison-house..._

"Bingo... I saw someone with a rifle inside. How many do you say are usually in such houses?" Misato asked, putting away her binoculars after scouting the building from a roof. They'd been very careful in observing the site, and with good reason as she had seen.

"Usually two, three at most. They don't want to risk more than that. And should they get attacked, they either die in battle, or bite on their poison capsules, meaning that we have to strike them fast and hard," Ryoji cautioned her. He was all business now, meaning freighting serious and concentrated.

"And after we're done, we call your contact in the police of Tokyo-2, who will send the Special Forces because of an 'anonymous witness' seeing someone getting abducted by men with weapons into this building. Of course this team consists of specially picked men who follow orders and don't ask questions. They'll storm in and then report they've killed the kidnappers in a firefight," Misato again went through the plan.

"Good, then let's do it..." Reaching into his jacket pocket, he pulled out a silencer. "Put it on your gun. No need to alert them earlier than needed."

Nodding silent, she put it on her gun, then they both went back to the ground, slowly sneaking to the building where SEELE held their captives. Arriving at the back door they checked it. No alarm wires, no cameras. It wasn't even locked. It seemed SEELE was very sure no one would even bother with this location in an abandoned building.

They didn't say a word, while slowly making their way inside. When the way went in two directions, they parted.

Looking after her, Ryoji hoped that nothing would happen to her. She meant a lot to him. But he also had full confidence that Misato was very capable of handling the whole situation. Misato was trained to defend herself against armed opponents and attack them in return. No, he didn't doubt her skills. But he feared that whatever was weighting on her could distract her at a crucial moment.

_Misato, please don't get hurt... _He then slowly stalked out his own corridor.

Misato tried to stay calm, but she was utterly nervous. Despite being trained to kill with a weapon, she hadn't done so yet, and being only a heartbeat away from possible death didn't make it better. Stalking down the corridor she didn't see anyone. Everything was deathly quiet.

She turned around a corner. Still no one in sight. The silence was unnerving.

_Where the hell are they? I know they are here..._

**-wooooshhh-h-h- **The flushing of a toilet from barely three meters away yanked her out of her thoughts. There was an open door a little down the corridor, and only seconds later one of the guards walked out of it, seeing her!

"Hey, who...?" **-pfump- -pfump- -pfump-**

Almost on instinct Misato had pulled the trigger three times, each shot hitting the guard directly into the chest. The sheer shock made him drop his rifle, and his mouth opened for a scream.

_Damn it, no! _Running to him, Misato slammed the butt of her gun hard into his voice box, smashing it. Falling to the ground, gurgling sounds escaped the dying guard's smashed throat. Misato made it quick, closed her eyes before shooting him directly through the head as a mercy.

Breathing hard, her heart beating rapidly, she tried to process what she had done. The first one, the first kill, was always the hardest. Especially if it was as messy as this. But she hadn't the time for this, she needed to pull herself together! Nonetheless, she couldn't find her cool after this.

Her knees shaking a little, she went further down the corridor, until she found another door with light coming out from under it.

"Hey Ryo, what's keeping you? The cards are getting cold."

She was suddenly surprised when another guard, this one unarmed, stepped out of the door. However, this encounter went different, as he was merely a meter away and reacted at once by slapping the gun out of her hand. "Damn bitch!"

Misato's combat training kicked in, and she attacked the man. Both of them stumbling into a room that looked like a guard room. But the guard obviously was trained to deal with such threats. And he was much better. She slammed hard into a table before her head hit a wall, making her see stars. Disoriented, she had no time to react before strong hands wrapped themselves around her throat, cutting off the oxygen flow.

"I'll kill you!" the guard hissed, his eyes as cold as ice.

Misato struggled, but the guard held firm and rammed his knee into her stomach to stop any possible counter-attack. She felt her strength leaving her with each second she couldn't breathe. Her lungs burned due to the lack of oxygen. Everything went dark before her eyes and she barely noticed something warm hitting the side of her head. _But... I wanted... _Darkness swallowed her.

Never-ending darkness...

...until everything went a bright white and she found herself standing in a white void. Confused, she looked around. It hit her like a ton of bricks when she realized what this meant. "Oh gods.... I'm dead."

"No. Not yet. And I hope not for many years to come."

Misato felt as if her heart had stopped. She hadn't heard this voice for so many years. Disbelieving she watched someone walking out of the bright whiteness. "Daddy?" He looked like he did when he had died, his arctic clothing covered in blood, the flesh of his arms partly ripped away. However, he didn't look as if he was in pain.

"How...how?" Only then she noticed that her voice was a much higher pitch. She had morphed into a 14 year old teenager, the age she was at when her father had died. "What is this?"

Her father approached her. "No need to be fearful... This is a sort of limbo. You have a near-death experience. This is how I can visit you.... I'm quite real. I wasn't a good father when I was alive, that's why I ended up here. It is the punishment I inflicted on myself."

"You...you punished yourself?" Misato remembered how her father had never time for her, how she had hated him for abandoning her. A part of her still hated him for it, despite the regret she had heard from him in his last moments. But to think that he had punished himself to remain in this limbo for all these years, because he felt guilty over what he had done. "But why?"

Her father looked pained. "Misato... in all these years you were right that I was weak. I was scared of the responsibility that came with a family. That's why I ran away from it... And now I'm here, unable to run away any longer as the chains of guilt hold me here."

"I... this..." Misato tried to find words. All this was so surreal. And to imagine that he father now punished himself for how he had screwed up in his life...

"I know. This is really much for you to take in..." His hand rested on her shoulder. "I watched you growing up and saw how you found fulfillment in your life. Let me give you advice: I lost all of it because of my own errors. Don't repeat my mistakes, Misato. Embrace what you have and move on from the past... It eases my burden to see you happy and I don't want to see you losing all this because my memory stops you from moving on."

Misato was still confused by the whole thing. But she found her voice now. "And what will happen to you?"

"I'll stay here..." he didn't get further, when an angry teenager raised her voice.

"Damn it! You mean stay here and torment yourself? You said yourself I turned out all right, so why are you still here? Ok, you ran away, ok you are by far not perfect! But you are the only father I have. There was a time I hated you... but now I only want you to stop hurt yourself... You already paid more than enough for your sins..."

He looked taken aback by her outburst. "You mean...you actually forgive me?"

Misato took a deep breath. "It's hard, and part of me will always be angry at you... However, after seeing you like this... Yes, I do forgive you, if you stop hurting yourself any further."

"I... Thank you." Before her eyes he transformed, his injuries healing, the blood vanishing, while she felt herself growing back to her adult form. "Your forgiveness allows me to finally leave this place..."

"Wait, where will you go?" Misato called, when she saw him starting to fade.

"To a beautiful place where I will wait for you... But please try to come as late as possible... You have so much still before you.... Embrace it... Find your happiness...." He then faded away, and Misato felt lightheaded.

Everything went white...

"Misato? Misato!"

She carefully opened her eyes to see Ryoji looking at her in grave concern. "Ryoji...?"

"Oh, thank all gods! I thought I had lost you!" The fear in his voice revealed a man who had barely avoided losing someone very dear to him. The raw emotion he radiated leaving no doubt of his fear.

He had barely arrived to see the guard choking Misato to death, emptying his entire clip into his head in sheer panic when seeing Misato going limp, blowing half of the guard's head away. Rushing to her side he couldn't find a heartbeat, or her breathing. Without his CPR... No, he didn't want to think about it. He'd been so relieved when her heart started beating again and she breathed on her own.

"I give a damn what others think a man should do. I was scared I had lost you..." He then embraced her closely, not wanting to let go of her.

Being almost crushed in Ryoji's embrace, Misato barely managed to see the body of the second guard, half of his head blown away. Feeling warm blood and 'something else' on her face, she guessed that it was his from when his head had been blown apart. Her near-death experience had rattled her deeply.

And she felt safe in the arms holding her right now.

_"Embrace it... Find your happiness."_ Now she understood.

Both of them knew that Ritsuko and the Vice-Commander would understand if they had to wait for some more minutes. After a near-death, both of them needed some closeness, before they would continue with the task at hand.

* * *

_...two hours later..._

"...so either this is the result of glaring incompetence, or our enemies are on the move. Nonetheless, this meeting is adjourned until we have the whole picture."

Keel grumbled, while remembering the latest events. They had no chance to further question Dr. Akagi and Professor Fuyutsuki, since the police had stormed the house and killed the guards. Official line was that someone had seen the professor being brought into the house in a very suspicious way.

Of course he doubted that their guards would be this incompetent, suspected NERV behind this, Ikari pulling the strings from his hospital bed. However, he hadn't had any leads on that regard. It was frustrating. "I don't like this... we have to accelerate the plan."

"You know exactly that your plan won't work anyway."

Keel knew exactly that it again was Tabris, the albino boy. By now he had decided to mostly ignore his antics. "I guess you are playing at your idea that once you freed Adam, he will surely stop us?" Keel asked him, not turning around.

"How wise..." Tabris mocked, walking out of the shadows. "You know as good as I, once he knows of your plans, he will stop them. I know him better than anyone else."

"Let this be my problem, Tabris... Your little rebellion proves to me that the body we created for you has made you weak. Have you ever thought that you, the messenger of choice, have made a bad choice?" he asked him.

For the first time, Tabris seemed surprised for a second, before regaining his cool. "In the end it will only aid me. I've seen how it will grant me the easy way to my father. Although I have to admit that in the time since I entered this form, I learned much about you Lilim."

"Even at the danger of losing what you are?" Keel needled further.

"I..." Tabris was silent for some seconds, wondering how the old man got to him. "The emotions of a lilum are new to me. I have to think about it some further." He then vanished into the shadows, leaving Keel alone.

Keel felt good that he had thrown this arrogant brat off-balance. _Tabris... what a fool you are. You only know what we wanted you to know. Your gift of prophecy... You do exactly as WE want. The plan is fool-proof. We only need you out of the way, and then nothing will stop us._

Feeling pleased that at least this plan was going exactly as foreseen, he logged out of the system.

* * *

_...NERV hospital..._

Sitting on the bed, Gendo looked to the picture in his hands. He had asked for it, told them where to find it. Of course they didn't trust him and had removed the glass from the frame so that he couldn't use a shard to cut his wrists.

But he wouldn't do that... not anymore. Yui's words from her last visit had penetrated his wall of sorrow, and unable to escape his own thoughts, he had judged himself. Since there were no excuses left, only the ugly truth remained. And what he had seen in that mirror was really ugly. His self-delusion gone, Gendo Ikari was confronted with the fact that he had pretty much destroyed everything that had ever been between himself and Yui.

A disillusioned man, feeling guilty for what he had done, sat on this bed.

Gendo looked at the picture in his hands. "I failed you... I wish there were another way for me to say it... I can not... I can only beg your forgiveness, and pray I find the strength to tell you... And hope that one day, your hand again waits for mine..."

Gendo couldn't hold them back any longer, and the tears flowed freely. He felt so terribly alone.

He had no idea that someone did hear his confession. And she felt that he finally had made the first step with accepting, that he had been in the wrong. She felt a little guilty for listening in on him, but she felt confirmed in her decision when she heard his confession that he couldn't find the strength to tell her in person.

_You have given me hope. Hope that the man I love is still in there..._

_**To be continued...**_

_**Next Episode:**_

_**"The Strength of Friends"**_


	32. The Strength of Friends

I will say these things in advance: I have absolutely no rights to NGE, but you should have already known that.

The story itself is basically a re-telling of the original storyline, but twisted into my way. While at the beginning there seem to be only few deviances, it will become more with each episode. The people, their motivations and the backgrounds are, while holding true to the basic layout, changed at my imagination in many details, so canon-purists now are allowed to flame me.

NOTE: I hate both, the ending of the TV series, and how End of Evangelion turned out. So don't expect either of those outcomes.

This is Shinji/Rei. Ok, first sorry for the long wait, but university stuff is a killer. Now it is time to solve some problems and some character development. I also hid something from another series in this chapter (can you find it?). And as a little preview, the will be big change in the next chapter with the arrival of the Angel Armisael.

Also Joshua Longstreet, known as the Wandering Soul of 1014, is my new proofreader.

After you've read the chapter, **please Review!** Please tell me your opinion. I promise to answer every review I get.

* * *

**Chapter 31: The Strength of Friends**

The one that Ritsuko was meeting didn't blink an eye. That was no wonder when it was an Evangelion unit, whose only eye was incapable of blinking at all. Standing in the cage on the catwalk that opposed the head of the huge cyborg, she again made sure that she was alone. This wasn't something that curious ears should hear.

After yesterday's events, many had looked a bit oddly at her when she wanted to return to active duty now of all times. But she knew she had to do it. It was what she had to do. It was where she belonged. It was what her mother would have wanted her to do. Sure, she was still in a difficult emotional state -something she would need more time to solve- but she didn't feel like quitting any longer. However, there was something she had to get off her chest before she could even attempt to heal her emotional wounds.

And that was, why she was here.

"All right. We are alone... I have no idea if you can hear me or not, but I have to get this off my chest, or I'll feel guilty for leaving you in the dark." She then looked the giant into the eye. "I know you are in there. And you have no idea how much this disturbs me."

She let out a loud sigh. "You know... I felt so indifferent to the knowledge of Yui Ikari and Kyoko Soryu being absorbed into EVAs. I thought 'not my problem'... But to learn that the same happened to you. I would have never dreamed that it would hurt me so much..."

She used one hand to comb through her hair, before she continued. "I know we weren't on the best terms. On some levels we actually despised each other. But this doesn't mean I'd ever wish this on you... We both fell for Gendo's tricks and were used by him like tools..." She paused for some seconds, then continued. "You taught me that I should never lose sight of the important things. And I know that my responsibilities here far outweigh the personal grief I feel over what happend to you."

Ritsuko closed her eyes, when she again felt the emotional baggage that had come with the relevation. She wasn't the best person to deal with emotional stuff. She'd tried for years to shut out most emotion, but she now knew that the price was simply too high. And in a way, even though these emotions hurt, she felt strangely relieved, the more she spoke.

"I won't give up. But I also won't stop trying to get you out of there. I owe it to you... Because without you, I wouldn't be here now. You made me what I am today... After all, even with all the differences between us, you're the only mother I have... I promise you, one day I'll free you..."

Ritsuko felt that if she said any more words, she wouldn't be able to stop the tears. She didn't want to cry in front of her mother, so she turned around and started to walk away... only to frown when she noticed a familiar woman standing at the entrance door. "Maya... how much have you heard?"

"A-almost nothing, Sempai. I've just got here," she nervously said. She didn't like the look that her superior gave her.

Ritsuko had no trouble to see that she was scaring her right now. _Damn it, that was too harsh! _"Sorry, Maya. I shouldn't have been so harsh. Whatever you've heard, please keep it to yourself. It is a private matter for me. Can I trust you with that?"

"Of course, Sempai! You know, you can count on me." She hesitated, before adding "Uhm. Can I ask you, how you feel? The last time I saw you, you were going through a difficult time."

Ritsuko showed a hint of a smile. It was nice that Maya actually cared for her well-being and had enough tact to not mention yesterday's events. "You know, you don't need to call me Sempai all the time. We've already been working together so long. I call you by your first name, don't I?"

"B-but you are my superior!" Maya stammered. After all, using someone's first name was a personal thing!

Ritsuko gently shook her head, tsk-ing. "Maya, please. When no one else is there, call me by my name. I insist."

Maya swallowed hard. "All right S... Ritsuko. But only when we're alone. I'd be too embarrassed to do that into front of others."

Ritsuko understood her hestistance. After all, using the first name indicated at least a level of friendship. She rewarded her with a gentle smile. "You see, it wasn't so hard, was it? But we should get to work now. Lots to do and so little time."

During the way, Ritsuko thought about Maya. She was so shy sometimes but had proved in the scene in her office, that she had it in her to become direct if needed. The young woman was really intelligent, which was the reason why she'd taken her under her wing. She had seen the strong mind. But Maya was more than just that. She was a well-mannered woman with a friendly personality. It was in her being to make friends fast. That was the reason why she'd delegated a lot of the interaction with the children to Maya. She was much better at speaking with them.

She wondered why she hadn't given enough attention to the woman behind the mind up to now. But on the other hand, she sometimes wondered a little about her recent behaviour. Right now she caught herself paying a little too much attention to Maya's butt. Ritsuko shook her head. What was the matter with her?

Granted, it was a nicely shaped butt, but still it was strange for her.

_Get your mind out of the gutter, Ritsu... _she silently commanded herself, not that it was much use.

She had no idea that Maya had noticed her looking. A faint, rosy blush spread over her cheeks. She herself wondered, why. Finally Ritsuko noticed that she was a woman, and now she felt a little embarrassed about it. Maybe it was because she wasn't used to Ritsuko being the one doing the ogling?

_Bad girl! Dirty thoughts! _she scolded herself when thinking about how much she felt for her (in an X-rated way). _This is stuff for later, _she added.

Having finally found Ritsuko's attention in that way was a big step after all.

* * *

_...the next day, inside the geofront..._

The group of teenagers wasn't in a good mood at all.

"I'm really concerned about Hikari... When I visited her, she tried to pretend to be busy with all kind of house chores. But her heart wasn't into it. I saw it in her eyes. She's hurt and has no idea how to deal with it," Mana told the others sadly.

They'd all gathered here, in the green fields of the geofront, to speak about the one thing that gravely concered them: their friends Hikari and Toji. Ever since the Angel attack, they'd seen only little of them. And what they had seen wasn't good.

"Same with me," Asuka said, while listlessly looking at an open, yet still full, can of soda. She'd have never thought that someone else's pain would affect her so much. "When I met with her, she didn't want to speak about what had happened at all. It was like running against a damn wall!"

The only boy in the group grimaced. "It went even worse for me. Toji said next to nothing to me. Please don't take this as an offense, Rei, but right now he's as quiet as you were once."

Rei shook her head. "I am not offended. But what you describe there, sounds... disturbing."

Shinji looked a little sad. "His father told me that he's been like that since returning home. From what I gathered, Toji feels really unsure of himself, wondering if he's really a weakling like the Angel tried to force him to believe... Seeing him like that, so silent and brooding. This is not like him... Normally he is such an active person."

"Have you tried asking Kensuke to speak with him?" Mana asked him.

Shinji shook his head. "Are you joking? Right now Kensuke has his hands full with caring for Mayumi. It's really obvious that he has the biggest crush imaginable. Good thing that she likes him as well. Trust me, as much as I want to ask him for help, these two right now need to be left alone."

_Hard to imagine that he's still the same Kensuke I met back then. He's changed like all of us, _Shinji thought. All of his friends had matured in the course of the Angel war.

They knew that Shinji meant it. Kensuke had become very protective of Mayumi, who was still recovering from her surgery (having your belly cut open does that to you) in the geofront hospital. The girl was thankful for his presence, since being dead to the rest of the world was hard on her. The two of them needed all their strength for each other.

"**VERDAMMT!** Can't we do anything to help them?" Asuka shouted in frustration, throwing her soda away into the bushes.

"You appear to be really concerned for their well-being, Soryu," Rei observed.

Asuka gave Rei a dirty look. "Of course I am! Gods, how often do I have to tell you I'm no longer the bitch I was? Heaven, even back then I cared somewhat, even if I didn't want to admit it to myself. I'm a girl of action. I can't stand seeing them like this without anything I can do to help them!"

They were suprised at how stongly Asuka had reacted. Little did they know that aside from the current crisis, the mystery of her EVA had started to frustrate her a lot. She still couldn't believe that during her last try, she'd fallen asleep! "...it hurts to care for others..." she quietly added.

"You called me by my first name during the battle," Rei remembered out of the blue. It had nothing to do with the current problem at hand, and Rei herself wondered a little, why she brought it up now of all time.

Asuka had totally forgotten about this. After all, it happened in the heat of battle. "I did?... Maybe it felt right... Still, I don't feel comfortable with it yet. A little too fast and we're not that close. So for now it stays at Ayanami."

Rei nodded. After all, she and Asuka had only recently come to speaking terms and in Japan, using the first name was a sign of trust, friendship and bonding. "This still leaves us with Hikari and Toji. I do not know how to help with this situation."

Shinji had learned Rei's fine body language by now and saw this helplessness in the way she held herself. Despite becoming more open with her emotions, she still hid lots of them, with only the fine signs showing. And to think that he had hurt this girl when he'd fallen into the pit of depression after the 14th Angel...

Shinji stopped, when remembering these days and how Misato and his uncle Kaldor had managed to get him out of this pit. How he had felt so much better when holding Rei. Shinji felt like slapping himself. "Gods! We're such idiots! We overlooked the obvious!"

Everyone looked at him. "Ok, spit it. What's the big secret?" Asuka wanted to know after some long seconds.

"I wonder how we could've overlooked it? The only way they can feel comfortable is by being with each other. You all know how much they feel for each other, and now I wonder if we were all infected with stupidity when allowing them to get seperated when they need each other most."

"How did you realise that?" Mana wondered aloud.

"I remembered how much better I felt during my depression, when Rei was there for me. It removed a lot of weight from my heart." Looking to Rei, he saw a cute blush on her cheeks, evidence of the impact of those kind words.

"Hold on: All of us knew that they both like each other a lot, but not one of us thought about it and seperated them?" Mana shook her head. "Where were our heads?"

"I assume this is a figure of speech?" Rei wondered a little. While she had lost her naivety, some figures of speech still confused her.

"Yes, It means that we were totally thoughtless... Question is, how can we help them in getting together, without it being totally awkward. And I have to add, hovering around them won't help, either." Shinji started to pace, unable to sit still any longer. "We need a place where they feel secure... A place where they can open up to each other without being interrupted. It must be a place that is inviting..."

Rei said nothing, but his brooding reminded her of the Commander. She decided that telling Shinji of these scary similarities would only disturb him. After all, he wanted to be as different as possible from his father. Rei understood that.

_But he isn't like his father in many other ways. And I'm glad for it... _she thought further, while watching her boyfriend pacing.

Shinji then suddenly stopped, remembering the ideal place for helping their two friends.

* * *

_...Horaki home, later that day..._

Watching Hikari being busy with cleaning the windows, something she'd already done the day before as well, Mrs. Horaki waited for the chime of the doorbell.

Ever since the call, she felt like a fool. What Hikari's friends had told her was true. She still wondered how she and her husband had come to the conclusion that it would be best to seperate these two. It propably was the worry that helped in clouding their better judgement. And she'd agreed with their plan. After seeing the empty eyes of her daughter, the look of someone who tried to push the pain aside, she knew that Hikari needed her friends.

Hikari of course knew nothing of this. It would come as a total surprise for her. Mrs. Horaki felt a little guilty that for this 'surprise attack', but she felt that it was only for her daughter's best.

**-riiiiing-**

_Ah, this must be them... _she thought, while answering the door.

Hikari knew nothing of this, while continuing to clean the window. Her spirit wasn't into the work, she didn't even feel any purpose in it, beside the task of giving her something to do, so that her mind wouldn't wander to the events of several days ago. The feeling of being a failure that the Angel had spoon-fed into her very being, the fear of having disappointed the ones she cares for... She didn't want to remember it.

But being unable to forget that horrible experience, it ate at her mind. She felt hollow and scared, the total opposite of the tough picture she gave of herself to others over the years. And while many had turned to her for advice before, she herself had now no clue how to go on.

She was yanked out of her dark thoughts, when she heard her mother. "Hikari, dear, can you come for a moment?"

Putting down her cloth, she walked to the front door, only to be met with Asuka and Mana standing beside her mother. It became downright suspicious when she saw her mother holding her jacket and her shoes sitting in front of her. However, escape was impossible when she saw her father blocking the door that led back into the rest of the house. It was clearly a conspiracy.

"What's all this?" she wondered aloud.

"Hikari, dear, being cooped up in the house obviously won't help you. Your friends therefore have a little surprise prepared for you. Please go with them." While her mother's voice was soft, it left no doubt that a 'no' wasn't the right answer.

Hikari doubted that it would help to improve her mood, but she had little other choice than to go with it.

* * *

_...at the outskirts of the city..._

"Look, I don't really understand why you're doing this. All this trouble for me..." Toji weakly protested to Shinji and Rei, while they waited at a train station at the outskirts of the city.

He'd been pulled out of his dark brooding when his father had announced that Shinji and Rei were there and wanted to take him with them to show him a surprise. The way his father and Kasumi had made him leave the house left no doubt that they'd planned this in advance. Part of him wondered what they thought this would accomplish.

He couldn't stop thinking about the doubts that the Angel had planted in his mind. His nights were restless, filled with nightmares of him being too weak to save them. And he always woke up when seeing Hikari's dead body after being too late to save her...

"It's no trouble. You're our friend," Shinji told him, while his hand rested on his shoulder. "And we have some susprises for you that you'll like."

Right at this moment, the train arrived. The door opened and Toji was greeted by Asuka and Mana 'escorting' an uncomfortable looking Hikari out of the train. That was indeed a surprise for him. While his thoughts had dwelled on how he could fail her, he hadn't thought much about how she would fare after the attack. And now he felt shame that he'd totally forgotten her, seeing how miserable she looked.

Hikari heard a little gasp, and looking up she saw Toji looking at her. Seeing how miserable he looked, she felt guilt. She had tried to push all of it out of her mind with lots of mostly meaningless work. She had been too successful and had pushed him out of her mind, despite him suffering as much as she did. How could she make this up to him?

"Hikari..."

"Toji, I..."

Both of them fell silent again, before holding each others' hands and looking into the eyes. The others could only guess that there was some silent conversation going on, some boyfriend-girlfriend thing. Even Shinji and Rei could only guess, as they had their own code.

That wasn't so far off the truth, as they saw in each others' eyes the emotional unrest that weighted down on them. They also shared the realization that both of them were ashamed of forgetting the other. Then, after long moments, they looked to their friends.

A small smirk crept into Asuka's features. "We realized that it was stupid to keep you apart in the first place."

"T...thanks," Toji stammered.

"You don't need to thank us. That's what friends are for," Mana said with a smile. "However, there is another surprise that we want to show you."

Both of them had no idea what to expect while their friends escorted them down the road, two at each side. Finally, a building appeared from behind the trees. They stopped when taking in the breathtaking sight. It was a Shinto temple, a really old one at that. That was something that absolutely didn't fit into the modern city of Tokyo-3.

"I found it some months ago while wandering through the surroundings of the city," Shinji explained.

"It..it looks so peaceful," Hikari said, wondering why she never before had noticed this temple.

Before they knew what happened, they stood at the entrance of the temple, greeted by an old men wearing the robes of a head priest. "Oh, hello. It is so seldom to have visitors to this temple these days. I'm head priest Hino... also the only priest left." The last was underlined with a little sigh. "It's always nice to have young people visit. How can I help you?"

"You are the only priest here? But it's such a big temple...?" Hikari wondered.

The priest shook his head. "A year ago, I wasn't the only one... But after the first attack, the others left. And I can't even fault them for it." He noticed that the others had separated from Toji and Hikari. Good that they'd informed him in advance. Hopefully he could help these two young souls.

"I didn't expect a Shinto temple in Tokyo-3..." Toji commented. Right at the moment, his curiosity overrode his dark thoughts.

"The temple was here long before the city. Where the city now stands, there was a small village before," the priest explained to them, while starting to show them around. "It is hard for me to keep everything together after the others left, but I want to live my life on my own terms. I swore 50 years ago, to serve the temple, and not even these so-called Angels will stop me."

Hikari was awed by how beautiful the temple was. "It is so peaceful here. Such a beautiful place..."

"The temple is my whole pride... Sometimes my granddaughter Rei visits to help me, when she isn't busy with her singing carreer." They were both a little surprised at the name, but decided that it was coincidence, while the priest went on. "Not many visit temples in these days, their faith shattered by what has happened..."

Finally they arrived at the central room, where a sacred fire was burning, the big sliding door open to show a breathtaking view over the landscape. "It is always refreshing to see young people like you two visiting. Especially when I see the fires of love and friendship burning brightly within them." Only now they noticed that they were holding hands. "Oh... how forgetful I am. Please make yourselves comfortable while I make us some tea. What kind of host am I?"

Watching him leave, they only now noticed they were alone. "Do you think they planned this?" Hikari wondered.

"I bet it." Toji then remembered how they had ended up here. "We're alone... I ... How are you?" he asked her hesitantly.

A haunted look crossed her eyes. "Not so good... I can't sleep well and when I do, I get nightmares. And yourself?"

"Ditto..." Toji then shook his head. "And what's worse, I was so self-absorbed, I forgot that you had it just as hard as well..."

"And I tried so hard to forget, that I forgot about you," she told him with a light blush of embarrassment. "I think a small part of me actually avoided you because of what I had seen... You fought for me, while I was too scared. You died for me while I was too terrified to help you... I betrayed your trust."

Toji shook his head. "I know you'd never do this. You are one of the bravest people I've ever met. I'd trust you with my life."

For the first time in days, Hikari managed a small smile "Thanks... Right now it seems a little less frightening." But then she remembered that it wasn't only her, which put a damper on her improving mood. "I think it's pretty hard for you, too."

Toji looked into the sacred flame. "I was a weakling... I tried to save you. But I failed horribly. Everyone told me that I wasn't stong enough to save you, while showing me your mangled body..."

"Don't say that! You are far from weak! You are really strong and quite capable of..." she stopped when she realised what she was about to say.

Toji finished that thought for her. "You mean capable of rescuing you? But.. I thought you hate to be the damsel in distress?"

Hikari blushed again. "Yes... Uhmm... but maybe sometimes a girl likes to be rescued by the knight in shining armor?" How embarrassing! It was one of her daydreams. Quite the opposite of her normally strongly independent personality.

Toji found that he actually liked the idea of him coming to Hikari's rescue. And it, together with her kind words of him being strong, helped to lessen the nightmare of being too weak to save her. "I actually feel somewhat stupid that I believed that stuff... It felt real, but everyone told us it was false. I obsessed over it, and just talking with you helps.... I actually feel better now."

Hikari leaned a little closer to Toji. "And I feel more secure now... But all too understandable how we reacted. I still feel cold when thinking about it..." She shook her head. "I actually feel like an idiot now, seeing how I tried to drown myself in meaningless work."

"I guess we'd have continued like this... We really have to thank our friends. It's so peaceful here... It helps to calm the mind." Toji didn't notice Hikari coming even closer while he said this.

"Toji."

"Yes...?" He only now noticed that she was only centimeters away from him.

"Shut up..." She than pulled him in for a full-on-the-lips kiss. Toji's eyes widened during this bold move, but he didn't dare to do anything against it. It actually felt really nice.

When Hikari finally let go of him, he looked at her in surprise. "That... that was really nice... Does that mean we...uhmm... advance to the next boyfriend-girlfriend level?"

Toji's stammering finally managed to wrestle a giggle out of Hikari. "You can bet it does. I felt absurd that even after everything we went through, we hadn't shared a kiss. And this will be a fond memory after all. I have had enough of feeling gloomy."

"You know... I've had enough of it as well. Guess we'll still feel like this for a little." He then held her close. "However, I think that, together with you, I can take on the world."

The old priest watched them from the door, setting down the tablet with the tea. He knew it would take some time before he'd be tolerated in there. But it was worth it to see young love staring to blossom. It was days like this where he didn't regret becoming a priest at all .

While he said nothing, the others were quite vocal.

"Look at them. It's such a relief to see them finally releasing all this bottled up emotion," Mana told the others, while watching Toji and Hikari comforting each other. Mana smiled when she see the the two of them kissing from time to time. It was clear that something had happened between these two, to bring them closer together. "I think we should wait a little, before giving them a group hug."

Asuka didn't listen. She was too busy with feeling envy for these two. They shared something that she would probably never get. Again, she felt so lonely. Shinji had Rei. Toji had Hikari. Mana wasn't bothered by being alone. She felt left out.

_No, I won't let this get to me... Still, is there anyone for me out there? _she wondered. Her life felt so unfulfilled and empty. A year ago, she would've laughed about it, but now she understood the saying that no human is an island.

It still didn't help to douse the envy that painfully revealed the empty space in her heart.

Rei meanwhile looked at some of the ornaments of the temple in fascination. Of course she'd read about Shinto in books. But to visit such a temple was an experience she couldn't logically describe. Even she, who had little eye for such things, felt stangely touched by the images. However, she had difficulties understanding that specific set of pictures.

"Rei?" Shinji asked her, when noticing that something had caught her attention.

"I do not understand the meaning of these pictures, Shinji. What is the story they tell?" she asked her boyfriend, pointing at the pictures in question.

Looking at the pictures, he remembered something from school back in Tokyo-2. "It's an old story. A story about an endless cycle of death and rebirth. I never exactly knew how this had ended up in Japan, considering it's more like Hinduism."

_An endless cycle of death and rebirth... _Rei felt reminded of her own existence. How she would be forced into death and rebirth, never allowed to rest in peace.

While she had learned to have a healthy respect for death, she was tired of her special existence at the same time. As paradox as it sounded, the realization that there was only limited time was one of the reasons people tried to achieve something in their lives. And she felt that right now that she lacked this. Sure, she had the motivation, but deep down within her, something felt wrong, unnatural.

Shinji noticed her staring it the pictures, obviously deep in thoughts. "Rei? Is everything alright?"

Tearing herself away from the pictures, she looked to Shinji. "Yes... I was thinking." To his surprise, she lightly kissed him. "And thanks for your concern," she added with one of her angelic smiles.

Shinji felt he would never get enough of this smile, when he heard Mana, that they should now join Toji and Hikari.

* * *

_...the next day, late evening, Suzuhara home..._

"You have to admit, it is really cute," Kasumi told her father.

Mr. Suzuhara himself couldn't hide his smile. Hikari had been visiting his son the whole day now, which consisted of them talking to each other, with some actions of affection strewn in (although they tried to do that when they thought no one was looking). It was plain to see that those two were meant for each other. They both looked much better, especially right now, deep within a peaceful sleep that had been denied to them before.

The way they both laid on the couch, holding each other and looking so at peace in their sleep, it was the best sign they could have that the nightmare was over. Carefully, he pulled a blanket over both of them, so that they wouldn't be cold during the night.

"I'm happy for them. After everything that happened, they deserve some peace." He then looked to his daughter. "Oh, and don't tease them..."

Kasumi pouted when hearing that. "Spoilsport. That's the actual fun thing little sisters do." That said, she left to go to bed.

Mr. Suzuhara knew his daughter would get over it. He also knew she liked Hikari a lot, saying that she's the perfect girl for her 'lazy' brother. And he himself knew something else as well: Toji, who before had been somewhat immature and living into the day, had grown into a responsible young man, despite being only 15 years old.

And it was that, that made him proud of his son.

* * *

_...NERV hospital..._

Sitting on his hospital bed, Gendo waited.

He had little else to do, besides thinking a lot. And right now, he thought about the stages of his life he had went through.

First there was drifting, before he had met Yui. Then there was happiness, during the time of a happy marriage. Then despair, when she was gone, followed by coldness. Then came hubris, when he'd thought he could pull all strings, mixed with living a lie. And recently...first denial, then depression... and now shame and guilt.

He felt lost, with no idea what to do now. Looking up when he heard something, he saw static on the screen in the wall, before it disappeared, revealing Yui's face. She looked at him in silence, expecting something from him.

He knew why she waited. He closed his eyes, a tear escaping him. "Yui... what have I done? I totally failed you. I wanted you back in my arms so much, that I was blind to see that I destroyed everything you stood for."

"So you are finally admit to yourself that what you did was gravely wrong?" Yui asked him.

Gendo looked to the floor, his shame showing. "I can't lie to myself any longer... Everything I've done... I finally understand why you hate me."

Yui knew, she would have to set him right now. Gendo was a man who needed a goal to reach, something to fight for. It was in his being to strive for something. And she would use the very thing that had made him do all these horrible things, to bring him back to the right path. She'd lost him and now wanted to get him back, the man she loved.

"I don't hate you. I hate the horrible things you've done, and the idea behind them, but not you," She told him. "However, right now you've lost all of my respect and while I'll never forgive you for the things you've done, I give you a second chance...under certain conditions."

Gendo looked up. He knew that he didn't deserve Yui's forgiveness. She had every right to despise him. That she still wanted to give him a second chance spoke for her very big heart. "Conditions?"

"Oh yes... You have to prove to me that you are still the man I'd fallen in love with by working hard to make up for your errors. Find redemption by doing the right things, and my heart will open up to you once again. This is a noble goal in which you can pour all your energy into."

Gendo felt that he didn't deserve this. But nonetheless it gave him back something, which he'd lost after Yui's rejection of his ways: hope. "I...I have to think..."

Yui nodded, but then gave him a warning look. "I'm watching you, Gendo. Please don't disappoint me and prove my trust in you wrong. I feel that the man I fell in love with is still in there..."

Watching her face disappear, Gendo felt he first needed some rest before making his final decision. However, Yui's words had a good effect on him. He no longer felt lost. He had something to fight for, and this time it was for all the right reasons.

His sleep came slowly this night, but there were no nightmares this time. He 'knew' when he'd wake up next morning, his decision would be made.

* * *

_...the next day..._

"You really think that's a good idea? Sorry, but I feel that my sister, namely you, is about to make an error," Kaldor said, his protest clear.

Maya Ibuki tried to ignore everything else, concentrating on the numbers. What was supposed to be a normal synch-test -with all pilots since Toji and Hikari had said they had enough of being left out- turned out to be different, when she saw Kaldor Ikari entering the room and the picture of his sister appearing on one of the screens, beside the inside view of plug 01. Turned out that Yui had asked for her brother to be there so that she could tell him and her son some news.

"I'm with uncle Kal in that. I think that's a really bad idea," Shinji agreed with his uncle.

Yui sighed. Of course she should have known that they would disagree with her. The idea that Gendo could redeem himself though his future actions seemed impossible to them. They had seen to much of his horrible actions to believe this.

"I knew you would say this... And actually I can't fault you for it after everything that had happened. But please consider it... if not for him, then at least for me," she pleaded with them.

"Sometimes I really wonder if you're really my baby sister who I had to comfort after she'd wet the bed at age five..." Kaldor wondered aloud.

Shinji tried to supress a laugh... with little success. And while Yui was embarrassed that her brother still remembered that, she felt her son needed a little reminder as well. "Shinji... perhaps I should remind you of your less than glorious third birthday, where you ate so much that you got sick and threw up all over your still gift-wrapped present?"

Shinji blushed and he heard laughter from the other test plugs. "That's not fair!"

"Shinji. Lesson one is, to never ever make fun of your mother. She has far better weapons to strike back," Kaldor lectured him with a smile. He lost it when returning to the topic at hand. "Still, I find it difficult to accept that this man can atone for all the horrible things he has done."

"At least tolerate him. Please..." She hoped that the line-picture of her face could display the puppy-eyes she tried to make right at the moment. It was an old trick that always worked. She hated to use such tricks, but sometimes the weapons of a woman were really useful.

She knew she'd accomplished her mission when she heard two sighs of defeat.

"Unfair... you knew that always works..." Kaldor grumbled. It was clear this wasn't the first time Yui'd used this tactic on him. "OK, but only for you. And should Shinji tell me of even one misstep..."

Shinji could only shake his head when witnessing this interaction between siblings. That was something he had never experienced, thanks to being a single child. But thinking of his uncle... He had formed a strange friendship with Ryoji Kaji of all people. He even shared his interest in gardening with him and Shinji had caught these two discussing the fine art of growing melons.

But not tomorrow. His uncle had given him and Rei a challenge. He had told them he could beat them easily at minigolf. Of course Shinji couldn't let this stay unanswered and convinced Rei that they both should accept the challenge, even if only to prove to Kaldor that he was wrong.

Yep, his uncle proved again that he had all the qualities for being a good father.

It was relatively quiet on the bridge at the same time.

With no big experiments going on and no crisis at hand, the personel had little to do. Right now Makoto and Shigeru stood near the coffee machine (strategically placed on that bridge level for easy access), talking about recent events in NERV.

"I tell you, the Commander got released today. They say he seems quite stable and collected. Rumor is he's expected back on full duty tomorrow," Makoto told his friend.

Shigeru rolled his eyes. "Oh, I can guess it. _'You no longer need a suicide watch. You are free to go'._ Wouldn't surprise me if something happens. A hooray for modern psychology," he mocked in a voice that was satire itself.

Mokoto had long gotten used to his friend's pessimistic worldview and nihilistic tendencies. After all it didn't make him less of a loyal friend. "Whatever, but I guess the time of easy command under the Vice-Commander will be over. Too bad, he's really good at it."

Picking up a cup of fresh brew, Shigeru then changed the topic. "Have you noticed that the Major has become almost attached to Mr. Kaji?"

"Yeah, I did." By now he had overcome the crush he had on Misato Katsuragi. But he still held her in high regard. "I wonder how long until we get the invitation to their wedding."

"Ahem!" Looking up, they saw said Major Katsuragi looking rather displeased. They hadn't heard her approach. "Don't you have some important work to do right now, Lt. Aoba?"

"Uhmm... I have to check all the phonelines!" Shigeru then made a fast exit. No need to pull the wrath of Mt. Katsuragi on himself.

Misato sighed in annoyance. "I understand that it's inevitable in my position for gossip to flow around. But next time, do it more discretely... Nonetheless, I need your help." That said, she showed him a piece of paper.

Reading it, he saw that it was from the financial department. "This looks like... woah! That must be an error. No way could the budget for the Evangelion project rise that fast. And since all that extra money was spent, where did it go?"

"That is what I want you to find out. Activate your contacts and sources... The whole thing seems suspicious. Where did all that money go? Regardless what it is, it's burning through the extra budget," Misato told him.

She had a feeling that their enemy, their human enemy, was behind it.

* * *

_...several days later..._

It was a beautiful morning, the rising sun painted the city of Tokyo-3 in the most beautiful shades of red and orange. The towering buildings of the city centre melted into a wonderful piece of art in this play of light and shadow. The city was in the process of awakening for a new day.

Everyone, apart from two teenagers, who were already wide awake.

Toji and Hikari sat on a bench at the lookout overlooking the whole city, holding hands while silently watching the progressing dawn. A beauty that they hadn't paid any attention to up to now. It was a quiet, wonderful moment, and quite romantic. And it was a silent witness, that the events of the week had brought them closer together than ever.

Hikari was surprised that Toji had such a hidden romantic streak, since he was usually more of a down-to-Earth guy. They'd both told their parents what they'd do and also convinced them (especially Hikari's mother), that they would not go beyond kisses.

Leaning closer to him, she let out a relaxed sigh. After all this horrible stuff that had happened to them, they now felt again at peace. Holding on each other while confessing their fears had strengthend the bond between them. While they did like each other before, helping the other to soothe the pain they felt had revealed how much they felt for each other. And it was something that felt good.

"It's such a beautiful and peaceful view," she softly said. Many wouldn't believe that she'd such a soft side.

"I thought you would like it." Silently, Toji thanked Shinji. It was he who he had asked for a romantic place where he could take Hikari to, since he himself had no idea of such things. And Shinji's suggestion proved dead on. This was propably the most romantic place in the city.

_Thanks, man. I owe you a lot..._

Leaning still a bit closer, they returned to silently watching the sunrise, the fiery disc slowly rising over the horizon. But after some minutes, Hikari noticed something strange. Looking closer, she wondered if her eyes played a trick on her, then looked to Toji. "Strange. I could've sworn that the air was shimmering to the right of the sun..."

Toji thought that it propably was nothing, but still looked where she pointed to. However, he stopped when he indeed saw strange ripples in the air. And they seemed to get stronger. "What is that..?" Getting up, they walked to the railing for a closer look. The strange shimmering was centered over some hills several kilometers away, and it grew stronger, until...

**-zaaaaaappp-**

They both had to shield their eyes, when a bright-white flash bathed everything in white light. A light so strong, that it hurt the eyes. And when they were able to see again, they froze.

Where the shimmering had been, a white glowing ring of light shaped like a double-helix, easily having a diameter of two hundred meters, now hovered over that spot. This glowing ring looked so peaceful, and yet they knew that this was a herald of death that had just appeared.

The sixteenth Angel had arrived to challenge NERV.

_**to be continued...**_

_**Next Episode:**_

_**"Armisael"**_


	33. Armisael

I will say these things in advance: I have absolutely no rights to NGE, but you should have already known that.

The story itself is basically a re-telling of the original storyline, but twisted into my way. While at the beginning there seem to be only few deviances, it will become more with each episode. The people, their motivations and the backgrounds are, while holding true to the basic layout, changed at my imagination in many details, so canon-purists now are allowed to flame me.

NOTE: I hate both, the ending of the TV series, and how End of Evangelion turned out. So don't expect either of those outcomes.

This is Shinji/Rei. Finally the all-changing confrontation with Armisael. Also, I use this chapter to show how from a rational point of view, the characters of canon Evangelion more or less are fucked up psychos.

Also Joshua Longstreet, known as the Wandering Soul of 1014, is my new proofreader.

NOTE: This here is a heavily re-edited version. I was unhappy with the original version, so I created this "special edition", which I hope flows better and has more details. It also is significantly longer.

After you've read the chapter, **please Review!** Please tell me your opinion. I promise to answer every review I get.

* * *

**Chapter 32: Armisael**

"We really question if you still have full control of NERV. Your recent ...leave of absence... also doesn't speak well for you," SEELE 11 said.

"Thanks to the actions of Professor Fuyutsuki, the Lance of Longinus is lost to us, since you weren't there to stop him," SEELE 05 accused him in suspiction.

"Our Human Instrumentality project is in danger of failing, because of your foolishness," SEELE 03 complained.

Gendo tried to not show any sign of nervousness. This was the first time SEELE had contacted him since his release from the hospital. Right now he was surrounded by the twelve black monoliths representing SEELE, and as expected, they weren't happy at all about the events that had happened during his absence. That they also didn't want to show their faces to him any longer was another bad sign that the situation became dangerous.

And if that hadn't been bad enough, they had to contact him at such an ungodly hour! _Who do I try to kid? It's not that they have to follow any labor laws..._ he silently berated himself for the thought.

And to think that this was only the first grilling...

He found himself in an especially difficult position after Dr. Akagi and the Vice-Commander had told him that not only did the pilots know, but the military and certain government circles as well. Since he was so deep in it -after all he had planned mankind's demise- he could only hope to survive the coming questioning by the military next day by basically making a full surrender and offering total cooperation in all matters.

Hopefully this would be enough that he wouldn't be thrown into a jail cell with the key being thrown away after locking up. It would be quite difficult to correct his errors from a cell. But right now, he had a different problem to solve.

"I am only human. And as such, even I am prone to conditions that prevent me from acting as the commander of NERV," he simply told them while keeping his mask of total indifference in place. After all, it was the truth.

"Come to us with a better excuse than this. Your weakness casts serious doubt if we should continue tolerating your antics. Perhaps your services are no longer needed," SEELE 09 snorted. Letting the threat hang in the room.

No one said anything, waiting for Gendo's reaction to this threat. The seconds seemed to go by slowly, as if time itself was also waiting for an answer.

**-beep beep beep-**

The sudden beeping of the phone on Gendo's desk interrupted the silence that followed this threat. This was an distraction right when he needed one. "Yes?" he answered the phone. "I understand." He again adressed SEELE. "The 16th Angel has appeared, so I have to leave. I'll report later." His holographic image then vanished.

"How convenient for him!" SEELE 04 growled.

Keel, who up to now had followed the whole exchange in silence, wasn't happy at all. The situation was unacceptable. However, their problem with Ikari would solve itself soon enough, with the end now so near. Still, he couldn't risk to tolerate this any longer.

"Ikari... No one double-crosses SEELE."

o

The Angel had made its move at probably the worst time for the defenders of Tokyo-3.

At such an early hour, the dayshift at NERV hadn't gone to work yet, while the nightshift was exhausted by now. Essentially, the only high-ranking officer in HQ was the Commander himself. The Angel had caught them with their pants down, but thankfully it seemed to be content with doing nothing for the moment. A puzzling tactic at best.

The inhabitants of Tokyo-3 were torn from their morning routines when the alarm sirens started to howl and a simple look out of the window confirmed that another Angel had decided to attack the city. So while the common people went through the routine and went to their designated shelters, the higher-ranking NERV personel ran to the express subway-lines that would take them into the geofront as quick as possible.

And as the inner city was retracted, a blue car sped towards the outlook over Tokyo-3 with a speed that was beyond good and evil.

They'd been surprised by the alert at the breakfast table and after a quick phone call, Misato had almost literally stuffed the three pilots into her car. Now she broke every speed limit while racing to pick up the remaining two pilots, speaking to them over her car phone.

"Yes, it's the fastest way! Don't move, I'll pick you up in a minute! A car train is already waiting for us.... Good!" Terminating the connection, she looked over the side of the road, seeing the glowing Angel at the other end of the city.

"Why isn't it moving?" she wondered, seeing that the Angel was totally immobile.

"I remember the last time an Angel didn't move..." Asuka said warningly. She remembered all too well what had happened. Being swallowed by a shadow and then put through a painful deconstruction of her life up to then hadn't been fun and she still sometimes got nightmares from that experience.

"And I remember a harmless looking, huge blue diamond almost roasting me. I think I prefer an Angel openly showing its hostility," Shinji added. He also had developed a healthy dislike for Angels playing the harmless sheep. Especially after the latest disaster with the 15th.

_I'll be happy once all this shit is over, the world saved, the big bads defeated, my mom rescued out of this tin can and I and Rei can live like normal teenagers... _he silently added, gently holding Rei's hand. He knew that Rei liked these small signs of affection.

"And I prefer no Angels at all..." Misato told them. While she felt that her life was much more fulfilled now, a small part of her still couldn't go on until all of the Angels were destroyed once and forever. Thankfully it was really only a very small part of her.

Misato then again glanced at the Angel that was formed like a halo, like the ones that Angels in stories have, as if to mock them with this outer beauty. _The more beautiful it looks, the more deadly it is,_ she thought, remembering how deadly the last Angel was, despite looking like a beautiful piece of art made of crystal.

Deadly beauty, indeed.

* * *

_...a little over 15 minutes later..._

Thanks to her task of picking up the pilots, Misato was the last to run onto the bridge, where everyone else was already busy with analysing the threat that the newest Angel was. "The children are getting ready! What is the status on the enemy?" she called, while looking at the huge picture of the Angel on the main screen.

"Looks like a tie at the moment..." Lt. Aoba commented, while he tried to make sense of the data on his screen. "Neither we nor the Angel are in a position to do anything."

"The wave pattern is constantly shifting... There are two patterns at the same time, one blue, one orange, matching with its current form as a double-helix," Lt. Hyuga reported in surprise. He had never seen something like this before.

"Orange?" Misato remembered too well the last Angel with this kind of pattern. It was basically invincible. "Does it mean we can't attack it at the moment?"

"Yes, the Angel is like a phantom, there and yet not there. As long as it stays like this, there is nothing we can do," he confirmed, checking the reading a second time. "Other than that, we know nothing about it."

"However, it's almost certain that the Angel can change its shape. It's current form is simply useless for an attack and while in this phantom state, it can't attack us as well," Ritsuko added, busy with trying to make sense of the conflicting data she got.

Misato didn't like this it all. "This smells of a trap... Damn!"

"The pilots have boarded their entry plugs and are ready for take-off," Lt. Ibuki reported.

Misato knew, she shouldn't let the EVA's get to the surface too close to the Angel. The disaster of Shinji's near-death with the 5th Angel had taught her that this was usually a very bad idea. Especially when you had no idea what the enemy was capable of.

_No way I let them run straight into the sword!_

She was about to give the orders, when... "Major Katsuragi."

Looking up to the command level, she saw the Commander standing there. She hadn't seen much of him since his return to duty -not that she was keen on it after knowing what kind of man he was- and looking at him she could again see with the naked eye how he had changed since his confrontation with Yui Ikari.

Gendo Ikari was now clean-shaven, which alone made him look nicer. He also had changed glasses, his new set was wide and was held in a thin aluminium frame. It looked much friendlier than his orange-tinted glasses, whose reflective surface often hid his eyes. And also the way he held himself was different. Instead of the brooding man who didn't move much, he now was much more active. Right at the moment he was checking his screens, before looking to her again.

"Yes, Commander?" Misato carefully asked.

"We have too little data to risk an attack at the moment. Order the Evangelion units to surround the Angel and wait under sufficient cover until further orders," he ordered her. That was another difference. The Commander was now openly concerned for the safety of the pilots. No one knew what had happened exactly, but Misato guessed that it was his wife's doing.

_Guess the old saying of marital power is true... _"Yes, Sir!"

Time seemed to go by slowly after the Evangelions had went into position, and ten minutes later, the situation hadn't changed in the slightest. The five Evangelion units still watched the glowing double-helix of the Angel from their cover. Armed with heavy weapons, they waited for the Angel to do something.

It didn't... for now, much to the frustration of some of the pilots.

"What is it waiting for? It's had so much time to attack by now... I really hope it isn't one of those Angels with a trick up its sleeve," Toji said nervously, while watching the Angel. He held the 12th and 15th Angel in bad memory. These two had waited until they'd struck with a surprise, costing them dearly.

"I don't like that. It sits just there, waiting to spring it's surprise on us. Where have all the honest Angels gone?" Asuka grumbled. Her fingers itched to finally do something. However, after being swallowed by a shadow, she had learned the hard way to not do something rarsh in a situation like this.

"Mana, do you see anything unusual?" Hikari asked, seeing Trident hovering in the sky far above them.

Mana checked her screens. She'd been ordered to ascend to this alitude only a minute after the Angel had appeared. Major Hanson was still paranoid about Trident getting damaged after that last fiasco, so she had strict orders to only interfere in case of emergency. And the situation right now wasn't any kind of emergency. Not that she'd have any chance against an Angel with a strong AT-field -her weapons would then be as effective as firing a toygun against a battle tank- but she felt that any help was better than nothing.

"Nothing on my scanners. The Angel just sits there, still changing between blue and orange. Not that I want to sound pessimistic, but after the stunts some of the Angels have pulled..." She did remember all too well how some of the Angels had surprised them.

"This is no pessimism. The Angels' tactics so far were mostly unpredictable and their methods of attack also fully exclusive to each single Angel. Therefore there can not be enough caution against this Angel," Rei reminded Mana, being in her professional mindset right at that moment.

Mana knew that Rei, who was most rational one these things, was propably right. Nonetheless, when looking at the Angel, she wondered what this tactic could be. _I wonder if it can even see us, _she wondered.

The Angel in question however, knew very well what was going on around him.

Armisael knew that he was the last hope their father had for freedom. All of his brothers and sisters were dead, slain by the Lilim in battle. And even he had no idea where his brother Tabris was. The youngest of them had disappeared without a trace shortly after their vow to save their father out of the clutches of the Lilim and they had never seen him again. So it was now up to him to either succeed, or fail. Should he lose, the children of Lilith would have won.

_**Victory and defeat. So closely related and yet polar opposites of each other. Like black and white, they do not mix with each other. As grey is neither black nor white, there is nothing in between victory and defeat...**_

His siblings had always called him a philosopher who had his mind high in the clouds. Someone who talked too much. A wise-ass who only acted smart. That, and some other stuff that was below his level to re-tell. And even now, terrified that he was the last of them, he kept his calm for the task ahead of him. The task of succeeding where the others had failed. While not as mighty as Zeruel or Ramiel, he had other strengths...

_**All the elements are gathered together. It is time for me to reveal my presence.**_ It was laughably easy for Armisael to project his thoughts into the communication system of the Lilim. His siblings had doubted that his methods would have any kind of success, felt that his idea of how to defeat the enemy was simply stupid. But he thought different. It was brilliant.

_**"Siege is laid to the castle, and yet no progress is made and the walls are still intact."**_

"What the hell is that?" Asuka groaned, as they listened to this horribly fake-intellectual voice through her com. "Don't tell me that this is coming from the Angel!"

"Where is this coming from?" Misato demanded to know. She'd expected death threats, but this...

Checking his communication lines, Lt. Aoba looked up. "That's from the Angel. It, or according to the voice, he, can somehow project his thoughts into our communication systems!"

_**"...And the question always remains: What to do with the status quo? A status where no one is truely happy."**_

Everyone felt like groaning when hearing this. It was so BAD! "Oh great!" Misato groaned. "An Angel who is a really bad philosopher...

"Two lines and I already think that this guy is totally nuts. What kind of Angel is this supposed to be?" Toji asked half-mocking. He felt he couldn't take an Angel serious, who spouted bad philosophic lines over the com-system.

"Children, be alert. Don't be fooled by this babble. I fear the dance is about to start!" Misato warned them. And it seemed, her warning was just in time.

_**"The easiest way to break this situation where no one is happy is to.... STRIKE!"**_

Everyone tensed up, when suddenly the rotation of the double-helix stopped and it merged into a single, thick strand. Alerts went off, alerting everyone that the pattern had suddenly went to pure blue. And only a second later, the halo parted at one point, turning the Angel into something that looked like a long, thin, white-glowing worm.

"FIRE!" Misato shouted, knowing on instinct that the Angel would attack now. She didn't want to endager the pilots only because she had hesitated.

The EVA pilots didn't waste any time, and tried to hit the Angel with all they had, while raising their AT-fields to maximum. However, Armisael was incredibly agile and his body had a low target area. He evaded all of the weapon-fire with ease in an impossible looking dance, where his thin body evaded to glowing projectiles so fast, that for some moment the whole area seemed white.

When the guns were empty the Angel was still there, without even a scratch on him. And looking around with one of his ends, he found his target. Everything he had learned from his siblings told him that this would be the best target for the first strike.

"REI! Evade!" Misato screamed, as she watched the Angel shoot towards Unit-00 almost as fast as a speeding bullet.

"It's too fast!" Lt. Hyuga told her in panic.

"AAAHHH!" Rei screamed in pain, as the Angel went through her AT field as if it wasn't there at all. Everyone felt like watching in slow-motion when the Angel rammed its tail end deep into Unit-00's chest, resulting in another cry of pain from Rei. Biting her teeth together in pain, Rei tried to reach for her prog knife while the Angel shreddered her useless rifle to pieces. Pulsing veins grew from the spot where the Angel had hooked itself into the EVA.

"The AT-field can't stop the Angel! It's invading the EVA...it...it seems to try to merge with the pilot," Lt. Aoba reported, while franatically checking the screen for accuracy.

_**"Seperated we are now. But isn't it more wonderful to share everything with your fellow beings?" **_the Angel mocked her and as if sensing her intend, it tied itself around her hands, stopping her from reaching her weapon.

"Rei! No! I won't allow that!" Shinji shouted, throwing away his useless rifle. Grabbing his prog knife, he ran towards the Angel. "Leave her alone!" he screamed, ramming the knife into the Angel. The Angel had hurt Rei, and by proxy, him.

_**"Aaahhh!" **_the Angel howled in pain, blood shooting out of the wound.

However, this was followed by a scream from Rei, as if he had hurt her as well. _**"We already share our pain. My pain is her pain."**_ Armisael mocked him. Then, to Shinji's horror, his prog knife melted to goo and the Angel's other half turned its attention to _him_. _**"Foolish boy... Noble intentions are never the best course of action."**_

And in less than two seconds, the Angel had wrapped himself around Unit-01 like a huge snake ready to suffocate its prey, wrapping itself around Unit-01's neck. Shinji started to have difficulties breathing, his lungs burning in pain, while the Angel started to merge into it Unit-01 well!

"Aaaarrghh!" Shinji screamed, when the Angel loosened its hold a little, the pain unbelievable. It seemed that for now it wanted him alive.

"Great god! Quick, help them!" Misato ordered, but to her astonishment, the remaining three EVA's ran against a solid AT-field. "What the hell? Why can't they neutralise the field?"

"The Angel has managed to combine the EVA's AT-fields into his own! It so strong that they can't get through!" Lt. Ibuki hastily reported in worry. She'd never seen something like this before. It was as if the Angel and both Evangelion were a single being!

Suddenly the head end of the Angel transformed to a nude, glowing Rei, leaning close to the head of the struggling Unit-01. _**"Ha ha ha... It hurts, Ikari, doesn't it?" **_he mocked Shinji, while continuing his task.

Rei gasped, when she understood. "It's my heart the Angel has found! He knows what I feel for Shinji!" She felt so deeply violated by this act, that she was unable to put it into words. The ugly veins that had grown on her body hurt horribly. And Shinji didn't fare much better.

"Shinji! Fight it... Please, try!" Yui pleaded with him, feeling his pain through the link. The Angel wasn't attacking the core of the EVA at the moment, so she wasn't in danger. But she had no illusions: she'd be the next target.

But Shinji could only scream in pain, unable to move. Yui felt helpless and her heart was torn apart. _What kind of mother am I to watch this happening to him, unable to do anything?_

Armisael was pleased. He had captured the two most dangerous Lilim in his initial strike. And now he would use what he knew was his strongest weapon: he would assimilate the two Lilim into himself. The female one reeked especially strong of the traitor-mother and it would be a great pleasure to take her into himself, so that everything she was, would be his.

Now he only had to check to see if they would comply with it, or if he had to use force. He knew his mind-invading powers had side-effects, like spillovers from temporal possibilities. But these were often to his advantage, if carefully selected.

With force, he invaded their very being.

* * *

_...in an unknown sphere..._

Shinji blinked. One second he'd been in his entry plug, being tortured by the Angel in the most painful and invasive ways, and now he was standing in a grey void. A void so empty that the emptyiness was threatening. He had no idea what this was, but it seemed to be a trick of the Angel. After all, they'd proven they were capable of attacking the human mind.

_I have no idea what he plans, but it can't be good, _he thought while preparing himself for any kind of mental attack. However, instead, the void around him changed into...

He saw himself sitting in a holding cell, Misato questioning him about running away and piloting. He seemed so... defensive and Misato was so aggressive against him. It practically ended with Misato deciding that he had to be fired on the spot and he silently accepted it.

"What the hell? That never happened!" No way he was such a wimp and Misato would fire him so easily! But then the scene changed.

He saw himself walking into Rei's old apartment, the one that was a dump. His other self looked around, before putting on his father's old glasses from the nightstand. Then he saw her walking in naked, fresh out of the shower. It ended with him stumbling, falling on her, grabbing one of her breasts...

"Hey, that didn't happen!" Shinji protested. He wasn't that kind of dork. And he would've never disrespected Rei so much (of course now was different since she WANTED him to touch her there).

Another scene change and he saw himself wearing one of Asuka's red plugsuits. The mere sight was conjuring feelings of purest horror from the darkest corners of his minds. "HELL NO!" Thankfully he was spared from having to endure this disturbing picture any longer, when another scene appeared.

Now the Mirror-Shinji stood in a telephone stall, making a laughable and ridiculous attempt to talk with his father. Shinji had no doubt that his counterpart was a real weakling, judging by how pathetic he acted. It ended with the connection being terminated.

"How the hell could this be me?" he wondered. While this guy wore his face, he was _nothing_ like him! Another scene appeared.

Mirror-Shinji was dared by Asuka to kiss her. He tried to do it, but didn't actually manage to do so. Asuka had to take the initiative and then promptly ran away in disgust, screaming that it was one of the worst things she'd ever done, leaving Mirror-Shinji standing there.

"No way I can be this loser! And no way I would kiss Asuka!" he tried to reassure himself, but all this stuff began to unnerve him. Another scene appeared before him..

Shinji froze when he saw a bloody carnage. His Unit-01 was busy with literally ripping Unit-03 into pieces. Blood and guts flew everywhere. He was reminded of his trashing of the Trident, seeing this massacre. He heard the screams of terror from the Mirror-Shinji, then Unit-01 ripped the entry plug out of Unit-03, crushing it like a fly, propably killing the pilot in the process.

Shinji felt like hurling. "No more of this..." he pleaded to his unseen tormentor. But the scene changed again.

Mirror-Shinji sat naked in a bath next to an also naked boy, whose features were strangely blurred and unidentifible. But the way these two acted was revealing. The scene shifted to these two in _bed_. And again, the subtext of this scene was more than clear.

Shinji held his hands before his mouth, fearing to lose his breakfast. _Shit, he's a wimp, a loser and now gay as well? I hate that he looks like me!_ The scene shifted again.

He saw Mirror-Shinji jerking off over a cotamose Asuka in a hospital bed. "Stop it!" Shinji screamed. This scene was wrong on so many levels. How could his counterpart defile her like that? The scene changed, and he saw himself sentencing mankind to death. Then he saw himself choking Asuka on a beach in an apocalyptic landscape, madness in his eyes.

"STOP IT!" he cried in horror at his counterpart's action, and everything vanished in bright white.

o

"This is unusual," Rei wondered, when she found herself in a grey, featureless void. A moment ago she was fighting for her life, and now she was here, in the middle of nowhere. It could mean only one thing, the Angel had created whatever this was, to attack her mind. She knew she had to be careful. Everything could be a trap.

_This Angel's tactics so far indicate it will try to use my memories against me... _But she stopped in her thoughts, when all of a sudden her surroundings changed, melting into...

She saw herself in her old apartment, leaving the shower naked, running into Shinji wearing a pair of the Commander's old glasses (she had gotten rid of these damn things months ago). Her other self didn't react much to him, even when she was knocked over and he (propably accidently) grabbed one of her breasts. She only demanded of Shinji to get off her in a totally indifferent voice.

"This incident never happened." After all, neither did he wear the glasses, nor did knock her over and touched her like that (right now it didn't matter that she'd learned to love him doing that with her). But it made her wonder. Had she really been that cold back then, she wouldn't have reacted at all to such a violation of her modesty? Did she think so little of her own modesty? The scene around her changed.

She saw her other self leading Shinji and Asuka through the darkened tunnels of the geofront. Asuka was busy with accusing her of being the Commander's favourite and getting a better treatment. But her counterpart didn't react at all, and when finally confronted only said without emotion, that she didn't recieve any special treatment. Shinji didn't do anything apart from a few lame attempts to scold Asuka, which didn't work at all.

_THAT was supposed to be me? Why didn't she defend herself? Why didn't Shinji defend her honor? Were I really like this?_ She felt that something was seriously wrong with the other Rei. She was so...lifeless. And this strange Shinji seemed so weak. Then the scene changed again.

Asuka trash-talked Shinji in the locker room, and her counterpart did nothing to defend him. **-flash- **Now they stood outside during the night. It seemed Shinji was taken in by the twelfth Angel. Asuka again trash-talked Shinji in the worst way, but mirror-Rei again did nothing to defend his honor, only asked if Asuka piloted to prove herself to others.

"What is wrong with her?" The longer she had to watch this, the more emotional she got when watching how her counterpart was a lifeless hulk, the more her speech patterns slipped. Another scene change.

Shorthair-Rei -after all, this Rei still had that ugly haircut she'd ditched months ago- was in an elevator with Asuka. Shorthair-Rei seemed to totally ignore Asuka, who was busy with accusing her to be cold, emotionless and a puppet for Commander Ikari, which would do everything should he order it, even suicide. This Rei agreed just like that, resulting in Asuka slapping her hard and sreaming at her, that she's just and emonionless machine who she hates.

Rei was greatly disturbed by this scene. She had grown so much since Shinji's arrival, she couldn't believe there had been a time she'd really been like that: practially lifeless. The scene shifted and she had to supress a gag reflex.

Her counterpart stood naked in front of the Commander, allowing him to cut off most of her left arm! She didn't flinch at all, looking totally indifferent. Everything blurred, then she saw her counterpart, now with a sort of tumor growing out of the remains of her left arm, melting into a huge, white chest, turning into a huge MONSTER! And the worst was, she seemed to like this, all the power driving her insane.

"No... This can not be happening!" By now all her control was gone, emotions of panic and fear overwhelming her as she watched what happened next. Countless white-glowing Reis used people's inner desires to destroy their individuality. The ones who were not willing were brutally forced. Mankind died at that moment...

"Please! No more! NO MORE!" she cried, falling to her knees. Everything vanished in a white light.

o

"Shinji..."

"Huh?" Looking up, Shinji found himself standing up to the knees in a lake of LCL. All of the panic he'd felt made room to confusion. What was this now? Why was he standing in this lake? He had by now some difficulties in keeping apart what he was seeing. Looking up he saw Rei standing some meters away. "Rei?"

"I finally found you," she told him with a smile.

Shinji wanted nothing more than to hug her. It was an irrational urge to be close to her that made him forget for some seconds, that this was a fake world around him. But after some steps, he stopped. Despite a stange numbness to his common sense, he felt that something was not right. Looking at Rei, he tried to figure out what it was that made him uncomfortable. Rei looked like her normal self... but with a gasp, he saw what was wrong.

Rei's smile... Instead of the beautiful angelic smile he normally saw on Rei's lips, the one she'd first given him after the defeat of the 5th Angel, this one looked menacing, cold and fake. And when he looked into her eyes, he saw none of the warmth that normally was in them. No emotion was visible in them, they were empty and lifeless, dangerous.

Shinji staggered back some steps, feeling threatened by this Rei. "Who the hell are you?"

"But Shinji, it's me, Rei," she told him innocently. Too innocent for Shinji's taste.

"You're not Rei! Who are you really?" Shinji hissed, now angry that someone dared to impersonate Rei. No one but her had the right to wear this beautiful face!

The fake Rei suddenly lost her smile, and her eyes started to glow white. Intimidated, Shinji took another step back. She then said in a far different voice _**"You feel lonely without your love. The tragedy is, that the emotion of love, the biggest joy, also creates the emotion of loss, the biggest grief. I can help you to overcome this."**_

"No way..." Shinji knew, that had to be sort of a trick.

_**"Think about it. In me, you and Rei will be together forever, in eternal joy," **_the Angel tempted him.

Shinji was torn for a moment, but then made his decision. No way he would betray Rei's trust like this! He had no right to make this decision for her! "No! Rei and I want to be together on our own terms, Angel! I will resist you with all my strength!"

_**"Fool... Strength is irrelevant. I wanted to make this easy for you. It is not like you have a choice. If you don't want to help me, begone with you! Don't get in my way, while I take you into myself..."**_

Everything vanished in blinding light.

o

"Rei, I finally found you."

Rei was desoriented for some seconds, before realising that she no longer was kneeling. She was standing uptight in a knee-deep lake of LCL. She tried to fight the mist threatening to surround her mind, clouding her judgement. Tried to keep in mind that this all was an illusion created by the Angel. Confused nonetheless, she looked around, spotting Shinji standing some meters away from her, looking happy. However, she said nothing. Something was not right, she knew that despite her desoriention.

"Rei, let me give you a hug," 'Shinji' offered happily.

Rei still said nothing, looking to him with her eyes hard. Concentrating hard she managed, despite the slowly growing numbness on her mind, to discover what was wrong. Then her face became the indifferent mask she used whenever she had to keep her cool. Finally she said coldly "You are not my Shinji."

He rose an eyebrow. "Why do you think that?" he asked her, acting innocent.

Rei's look became ice-cold, a stark contrast to the hot fury brewing inside her. How dare this...thing to impersonate Shinji! "My Shinji always makes me feel warm and loved. It is in his very being. I do not feel these things in you. It their place are coldness and indifference in you. You are an imposter. Reveal yourself."

The fake Shinji lost all his happiness, his eyes starting to glow white and he spoke in a far different voice. _**"Loneliness fills your heart. The loneliness that you aren't together with the one that has caught your heart. But this doesn't have to be, should you accept what I have to offer you."**_

"I will never accept an offer from an Angel," Rei told him. She did remember one figure of speech Shinji explained to her: A deal with the Devil. She would never agree to a deal with an Angel.

_**"Not even when I can bring you and Shinji together for all of eternity in neverending happiness?"**_ he tempted her.

Rei wondered for a moment if this was, what Shinji would want, but then her resolve returned. She would betray his trust by doing this. Something that was very dear to her. "This is unacceptable. Shinji would never accept this and neither do I."

_**"Unacceptable? This is my world, and it is me who sets the conditions. Since you reject my generous offer, we will do this the hard way. Now I will take with force what you denied me. Begone!"**_

Blinding light swallowed everything.

o

When the blinding light vanished, Rei and Shinji were both surprised to again see the battlefield, but as spectators, watching themselves, as if sitting in front of a huge TV, feeling as if they floated in nothingness. The numbness on their minds was gone, everything seem so clear. And they knew at once that someting was wrong, when they saw no other Evangelion beside theirs. It was like watching a movie, with what they saw changing, seeing a Rei that looked like the one Shinji had met all these months ago.

"It's my heart that does this to him...because it wants to be one with him..... NEVER!" the other Rei screamed.

"Her AT-field inverts, she pulling the Angel into herself!" Maya shouted, then a brown tumor-like mass grew on Unit-00. Then the Angel was sucked into the expanding core of the EVA.

"Rei, leave, now!" Misato ordered.

"No... the AT-field will collapse should I leave the entry plug. I won't allow the Angel to escape..." Then Rei pulled the lever for the self-destruction.

"Rei...don't do that!"

But it was too late. The core comprimated into itself, and for a second it looked, as if the EVA had turned into a huge, glowing Rei. Then an enormous explosion blew the EVA apart, destroying most of Tokyo-3 in its wake.

Everything turned white again.

Blinding white.

When they were able to see again, they suddenly found each other standing no four meters apart. However, after their last encounter, they were both really careful. What if that was another trick to lure them into a trap? "How can I know if you are the real Rei?" Shinji asked Rei in suspicion, fearing this to be another trick of the Angel.

Rei knew that this had to be the real Shinji... she _felt_ it. This Shinji felt warm and not like the dead, cold fish the Angel was. And she knew how to prove to him that she was indeed the real Rei. "You know when you see it." That said, she gave him one of these gentle, angelic smiles that Shinji found so wonderful.

Immediately Shinji knew that this had to be his Rei, since the Angel had been totally unable to emulate this simple sign of affection. And he felt guilty despite knowing that his caution had had a real basis. How could he doubt her? "Rei..." Walking towards each other, they embraced. For long seconds they had no eye for anything else, before finally taking in their surroundings. And Shinji gasped, when he saw where they were "Great gods...not again!"

Startled by his reaction, Rei looked around, and what she saw carried horror into her heart (which was no small feat).

They stood on a cliff. Behind them was a literal battlefield, total destruction strewn all over the place. The sky was no longer blue but a dangerous red. It looked like Armageddon had hit the world... it was all dead, leaving only ruins behind. And then she saw IT. Below them was a lake of pure LCL and on the other side... Rei's heart almost stopped when she saw the huge, white, rotting head that had a twisted caricature of her face on it. Rei remembered her vision of her other self melting into a white chest, turning into a monster. This was a nightmare coming true.

Of all these horrible things, this hit her to the core. Shivering in fear, she held tight on Shinji. "What is this?... I am scared."

Shinji knew that the huge head must have been a real shock to her. He remembered his own reaction to seeing it, so it must have been even worse for her. Trying to comfort her, he whispered, "My mother said it is...a warning. Of what can be if we don't watch out. It's what we fight to prevent."

"This world is dead... I don't want this to happen." Then she almost jumped when she heard triumphant laughter, as seven menacing eyes appeared around them. "Lilith..." Rei gasped in fear.

White light blinded them again.

When the light ebbed away, they found themselves in something that looked like big air bubbles, floating in an endless, blue ocean. Both of them were totally naked, hugging their legs. Both of them were reduced to their very being, symbolised by only wearing the skin they were born in. It was so calm and peaceful after the horror of Armageddon that it made them feel totally at peace.

Looking up, they saw that their bubbles were mere two meters apart, and they slowly drifted towards each other. Then, the bubbles finally touched and fused together, turning into one big bubble with the two of them inside it.

Their nudity didn't bother them, as they only saw the inner beauty the other had. They looked at each other, feeling their deepest inner desires and the love that burned within them. They felt the strings of destiny connecting them and they seemed to literally radiate all the love they felt for each other.

Finally, Shinji said softly "Rei... You look so beautiful."

Rei blushed when hearing this compliment. "And you look so handsome, Shinji."

Shinji gently kissed her, holding her in his arms. "Please promise me that you'll never ever leave me..."

"Never... We are now one in body and soul..." Rei then kissed him again, the kiss deepened, and slowly, the light surrounding them grew, until everything vanished in a soft, blue light radiating from the two of them.

* * *

_...back in reality..._

This was a new feeling that Gendo Ikari already feared like the plague: helplessness.

The three remaining Evangelion units were unable to directly attack the Angel, bashing in frustration against the AT-field. And the Angel in return mocked them with his bad philosophic wise-ass comments while continuing to assimilate Rei and Shinji and the EVAs. And that meant by proxy, Yui as well. Yui in return cursed the Angel in all ways possible, proving that she had quite a colorful vocabulary.

The worst thing was that there was nothing he could do.

It felt alien to him. After all these years pushing aside any concern about his fellow people, he was now forced to watch this horrible event, with no way to stop it. And his horror seeing this was only surpassed by the fear of the emotions this had stirred in him. If not for the seriousness of the situation, it would be almost funny: a man known for being indifferent to others starting to feel concern for said others.

All these years he had done nothing when he could have. And now that he wanted to do something, he couldn't do a thing.

_Yui...how can I do the right things, when I can't do anything at all?_

On the battlefield meanwhile, Asuka was nearly foaming in anger. The Angel was making fun of them, while he destroyed Shinji and Rei. "Verdammt nochmal! Nur eine kleine Öffnung und ich reiß dich in Stücke!" _(Damn it! Only one small opening and I can rip you to pieces!)_ she screamed in helpless anger, slipping back into her native language.

She wasn't alone in her anger, however. Toji had long lost any restraint, hammering on the field like mad. He would kill this basterd for this! And even Hikari, who usually wasn't know to let her anger get the better of her, was cursing like a sailor -a feat no one thought she was capable of- while waiting for her chance, while probing the field with several hits.

Armisael meanwhile wasn't concerned by these actions while he felt that he was close to finally breaking these two Lilim. After they had rejected his generous offer, he would have to break down their barriers to assimilate them. Thankfully that was almost done. Then, this voice in the purple perversion would be next. She constantly cursed him with the dirtiest words and most imaginative profanities, but she was no danger to him.

_**All my work is almost done, and then I will be... **_He stopped when he felt something strange. _**What is that...?**_ And suddenly he felt himeself being pushed back! _**This can't be possible!**_

Everyone stopped in their tracks, when they saw both EVAs glowing in a soft blue light, the ugly veins on them retreating. In turn, the white glow of the Angel seemed to become dimmer with each second, until he was only a light grey, all the glow having vanished from his body.

_**"AAAAAHHHHHHHHRRRGGGG!" **_Armisael suddenly screamed, as glowing-hot pain shot through him._** "Impossible! The power of their hearts is stronger than mine!"**_ Another wave of pain, and his body started to grow dark spots, like cancer that threatened to consume him alive. _**"No!"**_ In panic he let go of them, as he felt his assimilation powers leaving him, being turned against him. Poisoning him like a deadly flower he had dared to touch.

However, seperating himself from his victims also dropped his AT-field, making him vulnerable. And the remaining pilots had only waited for a chance like that to take revenge on him for the suffering he had caused their friends.

"Elender Hurensohn!" _(Damn son of a bitch!)_ Asuka screamed as soon as she saw that, attacking the Angel at once in her fury. After witnessing this horror, she couldn't control her anger at all. "Ich mach' dich fertig!" _(I'll finish you off!)_ she screamed further, before ramming her prog knife into Armisael, slicing a section of him open in a spray of blood.

_**"Aiiii!" **_he screamed. He felt unable to move, the power of the love between these two Lilim, amplified by the monsters they piloted, had burned him like an acid bath, leading to severe internal damage, paralyzing him. _**I can't allow this to happen! I'm the last chance for father's freedom!**_

But there was nothing he could do, as the other two Evangelions also ran into him, their auras radiating pure murder.

Toji and Hikari were majorly pissed off at the Angel for hurting their friends, and now had no reason to hold back. "Die, you stupid piece of shit!" Toji shouted, as he started to hack at the Angel with his knife like mad, not caring for details as long as it hurt the Angel. Hikari was even angrier. She shouted "FUCK YOU!" as she emulated her boyfriend's bloody slaughtering of the Angel.

_**"Ahh! Urrrgh! Aglb!"**_ Unable to defend himself, Armisael screamed while the slaughter continued, blood flying in all directions. He then felt his core, which ran through the entire length of his body, start to become unstable. _**"No! NO! To be defeated at the brink of victory is the biggest shame!"**_

"Watch out, the core of the Angel is going nuclear! The explosion could destroy all of Tokyo-3!" Lt. Hyuga warned, after seeing the energy readings from the Angel going off the scale.

"Quick! Get rid of the Angel! Get it as far away from the city as possible!" Ritsuko called to the children. She had no desire to see Tokyo-3 being destroyed only because the pilots were too busy with getting revenge on the Angel.

This finally stopped the pilots in their rage against the Angel, realizing that any moment now, the Angel could blow sky high, destroying they very thing they were protecting.

Toji then had an idea. "Quick! Tie it together into a ball!" They had no idea why, but in seconds, they wrapped the worm body of the Angel into a ball. Toji grabbed it from them. "Mana! As soon as that bastard is high enough, blow out his lights!" And then, with a mighty throw, he threw the dying Armisael high, high up and away from the city, as if it were a basketball.

Mana knew what to do. She watched the Angel flying higher until it reached its highest point. She had been unable to do anything during the entire battle, and so had had no way to vent her anger on the Angel. But now was the moment for her to repay the Angel for the cruel things he'd done to Shinji and Rei. They were her friends, and friends always help each other.

"Go to hell!" she whispered, before firing the heavy laser gun at the Angel.

_**The last of the siblings... defeated by mere Lilim with the power of the heart. The lost brother is the only hope left. Tabris, we need...**_ The energy beam hit home.

**-WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOUUUUUUUMMMMMM-**

A massive fireball errupted in the sky further away from Tokyo-3 when the Angel went off with the power of a nuclear bomb. The shockwave was so strong, many of the windows in Tokyo-3 shattered, while all the trees were knocked down within a kilometer closest around the explosion. Mana had to stabilize Trident, which was thrown around like a leaf in the wind. In this fireball, the Angel Armisael found his final end...

The light of the fireball died down, only to reveal a disturbing sight. Unit-01 seemed all right, kneeling beside the motionless Unit-00. Something was wrong; Rei was not getting up.

Maya checked her vitals. "Her lifesigns are very weak. The Angel's attempt to merge with her has severely damaged her body!... Emergency teams to the surface!"

One crisis over, and already the next was upon them.

* * *

_...NERV hospital..._

"It seems that every time we manage to defeat an Angel, one of us lands here..." Shinji said in resignation, while waiting for any results. Rei had been so heavily injured by the Angel, that she was wheeled into the intensive care ward at once. Strangely enough while she was in critical condition, he felt normal, desite them being hit by the same kind of attack. But he had no thought for this right now.

All of them had changed into the civilian outfits, but even after almost an hour, there were still no news about her condition. Misato had also come after the post-mission clean-up was done. Rei had grown a lot on her, and she practically treated the girl like an adoptive child. That she was in critical condition hurt Misato as well.

Hearing someone, they looked up, to see Mana entering, still wearing her pilot outfit. "I was delayed at the base..." Looking around, she saw the depressed looks they gave her. "No news yet?" she asked them in concern.

"None... not one word since the door fell shut," Hikari told her with her eyes cast down. Despite knowing the danger they were in each time they went to battle, she'd never fully confronted the fact, that one of them could never return from battle. And while there were close calls like with the 12th and 14th Angel, the worst case of one of them dying into their arms she hadn't even dared to consider.

Toji shook his head. "Why her of all of us? Shinji managed to give her a life after all the shit she was put through... And now this." He felt this was totally unfair to her.

Shinji and Asuka said nothing. Shinji, because he couldn't trust himself to break down should he try and Asuka because she didn't know what to say. She and Rei weren't really close, they had only recently started to close the gap. And now there was a possibility that it could never be closed.

Everyone then again fell silent, waiting for any news.

Finally the doors opened, and Dr. Akagi came out pushing a gurney with a really sick looking Rei, who looked to them in sadness. Dr. Akagi saw them looking to her expectingly, but her eyes only showed defeat. "The damage done is so severe that we can't even stabilize Rei, not to speak of any kind of possible surgery to repair the damage..."

They knew what that meant. "She...?" Shinji couldn't bring himself to say it, looking into Rei's sad eyes. He felt like he was about to lose a part of himself. _This can't be happening! I can't lose her now of all times!_

"The Angel infected her with something... It's slowly dissolving her organs, literally eating her alive... I had to fill her with painkillers so that she wouldn't be in constant agony," Ritsuko told them in defeat. It felt like the last revenge of the dead Angel. She knew that now there was only one thing left to do. "There is only one hope left for her..."

"No...they...they would not understand..." Rei croaked, interrupting Ritsuko. Even now, she feared their reaction to her shameful secret.

Ristuko shook her head. She knew that Rei was horribly afaid to reveal her heritage, but there wasn't any longer a choice. "If you want to survive, it's the only way... And do you have so little faith in them?" Rei looked away in shame.

Dr. Akagi looked to the others. "Come... There is one secret you weren't shown." As depressed as they were about Rei's condition, they wondered what she could mean. They followed her, while she wheeled Rei down the corridor towards the elevator that would carry them to the Terminal Dogma.

"Ritsu, what the hell are you talking about?" Misato demanded from her friend, finding the whole thing highly suspicious. After all the secrets they were shown, what could have been so important to still hide it from them? "What is this secret?"

"You'll get all the answers soon enough... Rei has her own secrets. And now I have no choice but to reveal them," Ritsuko told her cryptically. It wouldn't do to tell them. She had to show them.

No one said anything while the elevator descended, but Shinji noticed Rei looking to him as if she felt sorry for something. Finally they arrived on one of the lower levels. Following Dr. Akagi, they ended up in a strange, circular room. The walls were all dark, only interrupted by a strange code of green letters. The only remarkable feature was a strange apparatus in the middle of the room, its main feature a partially transparent tube, a dressing screen installed beside it.

"What's this?" Asuka asked. Somehow this room, even though it was so simple, disturbed her.

"This room is the key to Rei's survival. You'll in a moment see things that you'll have a hard time accepting," she told them, while taking a remote control out of her pocket. "It also contains a secret that Rei never wanted any of you to know. She feared you'd turn away from her once you know."

"Hey, we're her friends! What can be so terrible that she would think that?" Toji challenged her.

Mana crossed her arms. "Yes! We would never do that!"

"I think you cearly misjudge them, Rei..." Misato then turned to Ritsuko. "Why weren't we shown this? And what has all this to do with Rei?" she bluntly asked her friend. She had had it with secrets and finally wanted the answer. Rei's condition had remove the little patience left.

"You'll see in a few moments..." Ritsuko said, raising the remote control.

Rei looked to Shinji, fear evident on her face. "Shinji.... please...do not judge me on... what you will see now," she pleaded, trying to hold on his arm, but her strength had already left her.

Shinji was confused. What could scare Rei so much that she feared he could turn away from her? "Rei...?"

"Don't be scared by what you see now..." Ritsuko warned them, pushing a button on the remote. Suddenly the walls pulled up, revealing a LCL tank behind them, seperated from them by a thick viewing window that went over the entire length of the room. Orange glow flooded the room, and all of them looked alarmed at what was floating inside the tank. Bodies... Girls... Dozends of nude girls, all of them looking like...

Shinji gasped in horror. "Oh my god... that's Rei!"

All these nude Reis looked at them. But their faces were totally devoid of any sign of life or emotion. Their eyes looked empty and their smiles were merely pasted on. Just like dolls. Hollow... empty... lifeless. And their laughter was mechanical, being only a physical process with no emotion behind it. It hit Shinji right then as he saw all these bodies looking like Rei.

"They are all Rei..."

_**to be continued...**_

_**Next Episode:**_

_**"Cutting the Strings"**_


	34. Cutting the Strings

I will say these things in advance: I have absolutely no rights to NGE, but you should have already known that.

The story itself is basically a re-telling of the original storyline, but twisted into my way. While at the beginning there seem to be only few deviances, it will become more with each episode. The people, their motivations and the backgrounds are, while holding true to the basic layout, changed at my imagination in many details, so canon-purists now are allowed to flame me.

NOTE: I hate both, the ending of the TV series, and how End of Evangelion turned out. So don't expect either of those outcomes.

This is Shinji/Rei. Rei's life changes forever, but not only hers. This chapter annoyed me a bit, because it grew, and grew, and grew.... Until it was as big as it is now.

**Note that there is an adult scene missing from this chapter. You can find it at the usual place, URL in my bio. And yes, this time it involves Misato, you little perverts (hehe).**

Also Joshua Longstreet, known as the Wandering Soul of 1014, is my new proofreader. He has put a little rant below the story since I got some PMs from some readers.

After you've read the chapter, **please Review!** Please tell me your opinion. I promise to answer every review I get.

* * *

**Chapter 33: Cutting the Strings**

"They are all Rei..." Shinji gasped, when seeing all these bodies shaped like Rei's in the LCL tank, their empty smiles transforming into menacing masks. Everyone else was also shocked by this sight. Words failed them when seeing dozens of naked copies of their friend.

Finally, Misato turned to Ritsuko, visibly shaken by this sight. She was confused as well. "Ritsuko! Why the hell are there all these clones of Rei?"

"I think we should answer this together," came suddenly from a dark area of the room.

From the darkness, the Vice-Commander and Ryoji appeared. And while Ryoji looked in surprise at what he saw, Fuyutsuki looked as if he had seen it too many times. "It is the secret of where Rei Ayanami comes from, and why the Commander did what he has done," the Vice-Commander continued.

This finally shook Shinji out of his shock. "My father...?" Then shock was replaced with anger, that his father had fuck up Rei's life even more than he'd previously known. "Hadn't he done enough to Rei? What the hell did he think when doing this? Is he afraid to face me personally?"

Ritsuko shook sadly her head, Shinji would understand the truth soon enough. "Shinji, have you ever wondered why none of you know who Rei's parents are, from where she comes from and how she came to be a pilot?... The reason is that Rei has no parents, she was literally created for piloting."

"Your father doesn't dare to come down here, because he fears how you would react to these news," the Vice-Commander continued. "He wanted to create the perfect pilot, someone, whose whole life would be dedicated to that one task. A pilot, who would sacrifice herself once the time would be right. And so scientists puzzled together the DNA from hundreds of female donors to create this pilot. But two of the donors were special." He wondered for a moment if it was a good thing to say it, but then decided that there was no turning back. "A small percentage of Rei's DNA actually comes from the Angel Lilith."

Everyone was silent. The mere idea that Rei was an artificially created human being was very hard to believe. To actually be created just as a tool was a fate so horrible that they were unable to imagine it. But even this paled in light of the relevation that she was partly made of the same beings that were their enemy.

However, before anyone could say anything, it was Ryoji who spoke. "Better think before you say something you might regret," he warned them in a surprisingly harsh voice. "Remember this piece of wisdom: 'you can't chose your parents'. You really want to destroy everything you built up with Rei just because you dislike her parentage? And she's still a human being like all of us, don't even try to deny that."

Looking to Rei, they saw tears. She was crying because she felt that their silence meant that they rejected her. Shame filled them, shame that they had hurt her feelings. Then Shinji remembered something his mother had told him.

_-__"She has her own secrets, but it isn't my place to tell them; But rest assured, she loves you with her whole heart."-_

No, it didn't matter how Rei came to be. It also didn't matter that a part of an Angel had been put into her. She was Rei. He loved her and didn't want to see her hurt. He grasped her hand. "I don't care how you came into this world. You're now your own person and I still love you."

Misato looked to Rei, her thoughts in chaos. It had always been so easy. She hated the Angels, the huge monsters whose only purpose was to try destroying mankind. They were the enemy. They were different. And now there was Rei, who was partly one of them. Rei, who she treated almost like an adopted daughter. And she was partly the enemy? What should she do now? She was used to hating the Angels, but... she was unable to do this to Rei.

"I don't know what to think right now... I only know that Rei is an innocent in this. I won't betray her trust by turning away from her," she finally said. She needed more time to come to terms with all this.

Mana had seen her share of weirdness since arriving in Tokyo-3. Also, she'd become good friends with Rei ever since her arrival. The idea that Rei was genetically engineered, with a part of her from an Angel, was scary. But then she felt ashamed of even thinking that. After all, Rei had proven often enough that she wasn't some kind of proxy for the Angels. Also she had feelings, too.

Her decision made, she walked over, to stand at Rei's gurney. "I still want you to be my friend. You're not some kind of Angel-drone."

Hikari had difficulties to come to terms with all of this. She then remembered the book 'Frankenstein', where the creature was feared and despised, despite actually being nice and peaceful, resulting in it becoming the evil everyone accused it to be. And now thinking of Rei... she'd always been peaceful and became a good friend. To now treat her like a monster simply because of her heritage would be the height of bigotry.

"Just because that Angel provides a part of you doesn't mean you're like her. I don't understand what all this is, but I don't blame you of anything." That being said, she walked to Rei's side as well.

Toji was even more confused. The whole thing was too much for him to process right now. The whole thing with Rei being a literal patchwork child and all these clones, that was simply too much. All this stuff looked more like a horror movie. So he decided to think about all this stuff later and trust his gut feeling. And that told him clearly that he shouldn't even dare to accuse Rei of anything.

Walking to Rei's side, he crossed his arms to look determined. "Most of that stuff goes over my head right now. But I know who my friends are."

That left Asuka.

She actually had no idea what to think of all this. Their relationship was not as good as that of the others with Rei. "Ah, screw it! I have no desire to become the bitch of the group again," she decided, joining the others. They didn't expect anymore from her, knowing that she simply didn't have many ties to Rei. That she'd decided in Rei's favor was actually even more than expected.

Seeing that the children were all on Rei's side, Misato again looked to Ritsuko. "I don't understand how this is supposed to help her. You can't seriously think about one of these clones replacing her!"

Ritsuko rolled her eyes. "It's more complicated than that. We'll explain everything. But first..." Pushing the gurney with Rei beside the tube in the center of the room, Ritsuko opened a hatch at the base of the machinery, pulling out a metallic circlet that was connected to some cables. Putting it on Rei's head, she pushed a switch, and a soft hum emerged from the machines.

Ritsuko then looked to the Vice-Commander. Understanding the sign, he started the tale. "As already told, the Commander wanted a perfect pilot. However, Rei was to be even more. The DNA of Lilith was inserted into her because SEELE and the Commander wanted Rei to be more. Her true purpose was to act as a tool, that once she would be fused with Adam, she would cause Third Impact. Thankfully Adam was stolen during the sabotage of the power systems before anything could have come out of it. I also mentioned a second interesting donor... Young Ikari, have you ever wondered why Rei looks so much like your mother?"

Shinji paled as all of a sudden he felt that he and Rei could have done a serious error. He saw a horror vision of sleeping with his sister before his inner eye. However, the Vice-Commander held up his hand to keep him silent. "You have no need to worry; Yui's DNA makes up less than 1 percent of Rei. In family terms you aren't related at all. You father ordered the genes that define the facial features being taken from your mother's DNA in an act of longing."

While Shinji calmed down, thanking all Gods that all this lovemaking with Rei wasn't incest, the others looked somewhat sickened at the idea that the Commander had pasted his wife's face on poor Rei. "While I'm not thrilled about that, I can't hold it against Rei.... at least she got my mother's good looks," Shinji finally said, deciding that he had to look at the positive side if he wanted to avoid a depression.

Ritsuko then continued in the story. "However, the DNA of Lilith had an interesting effect... Even if we clone a human being, it would have its own soul. But with Rei, the part of her that comes from Lilith prevents that... Since a soul is something unique, there was only one for the being called Rei Ayanami, meaning that there can always be only one real Rei. All these clones are soulless shells; inside their heads is a vacuum. They lack everything which would breathe real life into a being. The LCL tank is the only thing that holds them together. Shut it off, and they'd fall apart at once."

Ritsuko took a deep breath, because now would come the explanation how this would help them. "Should Rei die, her essence, meaning her consciousness, her very being, in short, her soul leaves the dying body to enter one of the clones so that she can live on. The clones are only spare bodies to betray death, nothing more."

Silence followed this statement. Everyone tried to imagine dying, only to wake up in a new body. They failed. "Hey, wait a moment..." It was surprisingly Asuka who broke the silence. "If you know that this happens, it means that..." She didn't finish the sentence, but everyone knew the implications.

Ritsuko felt that she couldn't explain what had happened. One look was enough, and the Vice-Commander took over. "It actually happened years ago. Rei was still very young, when she ran into Dr Naoko Akagi... It was the innocence of a child that made her tell the naked truth, that Naoko Akagi was only a tool for the Commander. The elder Akagi lost control and strangled Rei to death before trying to commit suicide. Rei's soul left her body to settle into the one she inhabits right now."

Rei gasped, the few scraps of memory she'd retained of her first body, of pain, panic and darkness. Now they made sense to her. And to imagine that they would have to go through this again... "I...I knew I died... but not, how..." she whispered.

"Wait a moment..." Misato, who had listened to all of this, found something strange. "Attempted suicide? After all, Naoko Akagi did die. She's officially dead."

"She didn't die on that day. Injured from her suicide attempt, she couldn't put up resistance when the Commander used her for his own goal. You see, the first three Evangelion units had a flaw. They can only work after absorbing a human spirit. So Noako Akagi was put into Unit-00 to finally make it work. She is in there ever since."

"That's bullshit!" Asuka suddenly exploded. "No one was ever sucked into my Unit-02. No one, do you hear me?"

Ritsuko knew this day would have come one day: The day where she would have to tell Asuka the truth about what really had happened to her mother. "Asuka... Unit-02 was especially seen as improvement since they tried to eliminate the possibility of absorption of its pilot. However, the Evangelion still needed a human soul. So it took exactly that and nothing more."

"What's that supposed to mean?" She had a feeling where this would go, but refused to even acknowledge the mere possibility.

Ritsuko sighed. She hated to do this, but it had to be done. "I know this will be hard for you to accept, and I wanted to tell you someplace different than this, but it is true. When your mother got into that accident years ago, her soul was separated from her body and absorbed into Unit-02. Her remaining body missed its soul. It was practically a zombie just with a few leftover scraps of memory. I'm sorry, Asuka, but this is the hard truth."

Asuka stared at her, her face unreadable. It was clear that she was trying to deny these words, but in her memory, she went through everything that was connected to her feeling strange things in the entry plug. And suddenly it all made sense. Asuka didn't say a word, retreated to a far corner of the room, where she promptly collapsed and started to cry.

"Damn, that's heavy..." Toji hadn't great love for Asuka, but now he really felt sorry for her. "Uhm, Hikari, could you...?" He didn't need to say more. Hikari walked over to Asuka, trying to comfort her. Everyone else was silent. The revelations of the last minutes were really difficult to accept.

Finally, Ryoji had enough from the silence. "Ok, now that we know that, what's happening now?"

Clearing her mind, Ritsuko decided to keep it short. "You know how Rei's life was after that, so I spare you that. When Rei died, she also lost all her memories, starting at zero again. When her soul leaves her body, it can only take a few memories with it to its new home. So to overcome this problem, this machine was built. It would save Rei's memories on a regular basis. The last upload was two days ago, so right now the circlet around her head saves her short-term memory... until the end."

Now that it was spelled out, Shinji looked horrified to Rei. "We... we HAVE to let her die? That's cruel!" He was stopped when Rei weakly grabbed his arm.

Despite her fatigue and weakness, Rei looked hard to Shinji. "I...will die anyway... Do not think I wanted it this way... Promise me! Promise me... you won't treat me any different!"

Shinji at first wanted to object that there was no way that he could not treat her different after that. But one look at her determined eyes made he reconsider. "Rei. I promise. You'll always the same Rei to me."

"Shinji, I... -gasp-" Suddenly Rei felt as if all the air was forced out of her lungs and her heart exploded into pieces. Every ounce of strength started to leave her. "S- Shin-..I......I......." Her eyes started to lose their focus and her hand started to lose its grip

"Rei?....REI?"

Before Rei's eyes, everything started to fade into darkness. Everything felt numb, then she fell into a dark abyss. Feeling the last bit of life fading away while falling deeper into the abyss, she strangely enough didn't feel any panic. Only that after great suffering came great relief. Before her, a tunnel with a bright light at the end appeared, and she somehow knew it would lead to a beautiful place where no evil could exist.

However, before she had a chance to enter the tunnel, unseen hands grabbed her, taking her away from the inviting light. In panic she felt the irreplacable treasures, her memories, being taken from her bit for bit. It was most cruel that the first thing she forgot was that all the treasures would be returned to her. Panicking, she held dear on the one memory she never wanted to lose. The one thing that would make her go on.

Then everything vanished in bright light.

Everyone had fallen silent when seeing the drama. Now Shinji looked horrified at Rei's dead body, his face altering between shock and grief. Even after all he'd learned about Rei, her death hit him hard. In total helplessness he looked into the eyes that had once held so much life, now only empty shells. "Rei..."

He had no time for further grief, when suddenly a bird made of blue light emerged out of Rei's chest, hovering over her body. Everyone looked in wonder at this representation of Rei's very being. It seemed to watch Shinji for a second, before flying towards the LCL tank, passing the thick window as if it was nothing, rushing directly into one of the cloned bodies, which at once fell out of synch with the other clones.

And at exactly that moment, the dead body, to everyones surprise, suddenly dissolved into a burst of LCL, leaving nothing behind apart from a soaked hospital gown and a strange, pulsating organ.

Ritsuko knew that every second counted. Rushing to the controls, she flooded the central tube with LCL while robotronic arms grabbed the newly-awakened Rei, guiding her into a pipe in the floor that would lead into the tube. That done, she grabbed a special glass full of LCL, and quickly put the organ into it, just as Rei floated up into the tube.

Rei looked totally desoriented and seemed to panic, trashing around in the narrow tube, until she saw Shinji and suddenly stopped moving, looking at him in longing. Seconds later she seemed to become limb, motionlessly floating while her eyes were only half-open.

"Don't worry. I only mixed something in to make her relax. That way it will be much easier for her once I start to return her memories to her," Ritsuko told them from the controls, before typing in some commands. The big machinery above the tube started to softly hum. "This takes a while now."

The Vice-Commander looked to Ritsuko. "I think I can take my leave now. Every decision you make regarding the clones, regardless what, is supported by the Commander. He asked me to tell you that. And honestly... this has went on long enough. We should finally end this sin."

Leaving, he was glad to be out of that room. Looking at the empty shells that look like Rei always gave him the shivers. He had no idea how the Commander had endured this view for so long. He knew what would now happen with the clones, he was sure of that. _At least it will be her decision what happens to them..._

Meanwhile, Shinji was still looking in wonder at the newly awakened Rei, as she was slowly given back her memory. Hikari, after the shock of Rei's death and rebirth, had returned to consoling Asuka, who in her pain paid only a little attention to everything else around her. Mana and Toji meanwhile had pulled back the soaked sheet from the gurney, whistling as they realised that nothing but a puddle of LCL was left of the body. And Misato looked to Ryoji, unsure what to say.

"I take it this was all new to you as well...?" Misato finally said, feeling the need to reassure herself that Ryoji hadn't lied to her concerning all this.

"I hadn't known. While I knew that there is some kind of secret surrounding Rei, I would've never thought that it was something like this." Looking a little closer at Misato, he noticed that she looked a little pale. "You don't look so hot. Are you feeling all right?"

Half a year ago, she would've been really surprised at how mature Ryoji Kaji had become, but now it was part of what made him attractive. "I'll be... Once I get out of this nightmare. Right now I wish nothing more than to crawl under the blanket of my bed."

"You want company?" he asked her with only a very slight smirk. He knew that after all this angst, she really needed something positive. She deserved better than always being confronted with something that messed around with her.

The minutes went by. Everyone calmed down, seeing that the worst was over. Ritsuko had cleaned the gurney, changing the sheet and preparing a fresh hospital gown for Rei. Then, the humming of the machines stopped, indicating that the memory transfer was finished. "Ok, I'll empty the tube and open it up. Shinji, better catch her since I doubt she'll be able to stand on her own."

The LCL was drained before the tube started to lower. Hikari had to make Toji look away (looking at a real, naked Rei was different from the clones, she'd decided) when the sensitive parts came into view. Catching her, Shinji held her in his arms, looking at her still half-closed eyes. They shone with life. "Rei...?" he carefully asked, the fear that something could've gone wrong hovering over him.

At first there was no reaction, then Rei's eyes opened wide. She seemed to try to say something, but suddenly she vomited LCL all over Shinji! He was too shocked to react, letting Rei vomit all over him until she was coughing out some last remains. And only after that, she managed to speak. "Hold me... hold me... It was so dark... and then everything was taken from me..."

She held on Shinji, as if she feared that he would vanish. It had been horrible to wake up, to find that your identity was gone, that you couldn't even remember how to make a constructive thought. The only anchor in this chaos had been the memory of love. When all the treasures of memories had finally been returned to her, it was like a journey of discovery that played inside her head. Now she was truly complete.

Finally, Rei was put into the hospital gown and secured on the gurney. More aware now, she looked at the people gathered around her. He voice was full of emotion when she finally spoke, lacking her usual, precise speech patterns. "You held on me, even after the secret was revealed... Please promise me, to not treat me any different. I want to forget this ever happened. All this, has never happened..."

Silent nods of agreement met her. For her it was enough.

However, Ritsuko had more to say, taking the remote control out of her coat pocket. "Before we go, there is a decision to make. The fate of the remaining clones. Rei, it is your life we are talking about, so we decided that it is soley your decision to be made." That said, she place the remote in Rei's hand. "Whatever you do is up to you and we will support it."

Looking first at the object in her hand, then at the clones in the tank, Rei had a hard time deciding what to do. Could she really destroy them like that? These beings that looked like her and only had the misfortune to exist without a soul to fulfill them? But looking at the clones, she felt tired of her existence of one of many. She also didn't feel any guilt when thinking about pulling the plug. She wanted to be unique, she wanted a nomal life... and she didn't want to experience it again.

She pushed the red button.

At once the orange light died, replaced by cool blue. The laughter of the clones desintegrated while the bodies started to break apart. Limbs seperated from their bodies, innards spilled out. Everyone looked in shock at this disturbing display. Flesh, bones and guts floated around in the tank, before further desintigrating into an unidentifiable black mass that sunk to the bottom of the tank.

Dropping the remote, Rei closed her eyes, a tear escaping. While she knew she had done the right thing, she still had the decency to feel sorry for them, even though they'd never been alive.

* * *

_...almost two hours later..._

Rei groaned, and with good reason. She was totally exhausted. Dr. Akagi's procedure to make her new body fit for usage and the full exam she got with that hadn't been pleasant at all.

After being washed by two nurses, she had been told by Dr. Akagi that they first needed to flush out all the LCL from her digestive tract, while at the same time animating it so that it would work properly after a life of inactivity. She hadn't had any idea what this would include.

First Dr. Akagi had made her swallow some pills that, as she said, "will get all of it back on-line and make you run". She had meant that literally. Rei was still amazed how much energy she could find when madly dashing to the bathroom in a sudden, urgent need. And that wasn't the only time. Next she had to drink some kind of cleaning fluid to wash off the LCL remaints inside herself: over two liters of something that tasted like desinfectant. That stuff had literally rushed through her, resulting in mad dash number two. And as a crowning end, Dr. Akagi had given her a strong warm water enema, which resulted in dash number three.

In the end she had been exhausted, horribly embarrassed and 'completely squeaky clean on the inside'. She'd wondered for a second if dying for good would've been better than this.

She had barely noticed all the other stuff Dr. Akgi did, which was a good thing since some of the places where she had been poked and prodded were rather private. At the end she had to lie on her stomach while the good doctor gave her all the needed shots. Her butt still hurt from all the needles penetrating it. Included was a shot that 'should give you lots of energy in no time'. Dr. Akagi's smile when she mentioned she should have a way to burn excess energy made Rei wonder for a second what it meant, until it dawned on her, which led to the current situation. How the woman managed to smile despite what had happened was a mystery.

"Rei, now that you have a complete repoductive system you are capable of getting pregnant. You know that, right?" Ritsuko asked her, while gently poking Rei's abdomen just above her pubic hair.

Rei of course knew that. It was one of the reasons why, despite having gone through something so horrible as dying, she was happy. Being finally capable of repoducing made her feel complete, as if some important part of her had been returned. "Yes, Dr. Akagi."

"Good... As you can guess, I know that you and Shinji are together, but we can't risk our pilots getting pregnant in the middle of this war. That, and you're still a minor," she further explained to Rei, while preparing another syringe.

"Yes, Dr. Akagi..." Rei knew that as well. And while she was happy about the gift of being able to create new life, she knew the now wasn't the time for it.

"Good... This here..." she pointed to the syringe "...will stop that possibility for three whole months, meaning you and Shinji can do it as often as you want... Oh, and it will only stop you from ovulating, but everything else still goes according to plan. That's on purpose since I see all woman who take contraceptives just to block their cyle as cowards." She seemed to think for a second. "I have to inject that directly into your womb. This could hurt a bit."

Rei didn't like the prospect of that. The needle in her womb, not the cyle stuff. While she had heard girls in school complaining about their period, she doubted that it was_ that _bad. After all, it was natural, right? "Does it need to be injected there?"

"Sorry, but it has to. Look, Asuka and Hikari also didn't complain and went through with it." That said, she placed the syringe at its intended target. "Brace yourself, there will be a small sting." Rei grimaced when the needle penetrated her skin and went deeper inside. Thankfully after only some seconds, it was over. "There, all done."

Ritsuko was surprised how well she'd managed to hold up the front of this being a normal procedure. But preparing Rei's new body for the future wasn't normal by far. It seemed that Rei definitely wanted to put this behind herself and go on with life. It was natural that she didn't want to be reminded of something as horrible as her own death.

_Maybe it's for the best. She's now pretty much a normal girl and doesn't want to be reminded of the past any longer. Guess that not having a dead body helped everyone put it behind themselves, _she thought.

There wasn't much more to be done, so Dr. Akagi told Rei that Shinji was probably still waiting outside for her. Rei dressed and left, nearly bumping into Lt. Ibuki on her way out. Maya watched the retreating girl until the door closed.

"Rei seems to fare much better. I didn't think this would be possible so soon after what happened today. Your special treatment seems to have work," Maya told Ritsuko in ignorance.

Ritsuko knew Maya would never know the truth. Maybe it was better this way as well. "Yes, she'll be back up and running in no time. But enough of her, what about the repairs?"

"There wasn't much to repair in the first place. We closed the gap in Unit-00's stomach armor. We now only need to replace one prog knife and one assault rifle. Other than that, we're back to full combat readiness," Maya reported, wondering a little why Ritsuko seemed so reluctant to talk about how she managed to heal Rei.

"That's one problem less..." But then Ritsuko indicated to Maya that she should sit down. "You know, there is something else I have to discuss with you. Something that came to my ears from the gossip mill yesterday."

Maya paled a little. What could it be that Ritsuko had heard that she wanted to talk with her about? "W-what do they say?" she asked nervously, hoping that it wasn't any of the things she feared it could be.

Ritsuko already knew that there had be substance to the gossip, if Maya reacted like this. Now it was time to find out if it was true. "I overheard that according to several techs, you talk to yourself about your 'beautiful Sempai' while being in the restroom."

Maya blushed heavily, her embarrassment spiking. "I... I..."

That alone was proof enough that it was true. However, seeing that the poor woman became more and more embarrassed, Ritsuko took one of her hands into hers. "Shhhh... I'm not angry, nor will I rip off your head or something like that. I'm only surprised.... Maya, when did you start having fantasies involving me?"

Maya had calmed down a little, but she still was beet-red, while trying to answer. "W-when you first took me under your wing... I admired you. I wanted to be like you.... Over time I saw more than just the scientist, I saw the woman Ritsuko Akagi... Ever since then I tried to not let dirty thoughts get the better of me..."

Ritsuko hadn't expected something this big. _I can't believe it. Proper Maya Ibuki has the hots for me. Who would have thought? Now the question what's more unsettling: that another woman feels like this for me, or the fact that it doesn't bother me?_

"I understand that you want me to stop..." Maya was stopped from saying anymore by a finger over her lips. Looking up, she saw Ritsuko tsk-ing, as if scolding a little child.

"I haven't heard the mere mention that you'd think I don't want you to being around me." Seeing no protest, she removed her hand. "Granted, your confession took me by surprise, and now some things do make sense. However, I don't see any reason to turn away from you."

"Ritsuko?" Maya wondered. She had always feared that Ritsuko would be disgusted of being the object of desire by another woman.

Sitting down on the examination table, Ritsuko knew that now it was her turn for a little confession. "To be honest I started to doubt if I'm as firm in my orientation as I thought I am. I caught myself numerous times undressing males and females alike in my imagination... I'm a little unsure of myself right now."

Ok, that wasn't at all what Maya had expected! However, she knew that what Ritsuko needed right now was a friend, not a lover. "I know the feeling. It was during my high school years when I noticed that I was different than the other girls. I was confused and embarrassed about it. With time I learned that it was a part of me and I accepted it, despite having to hide it from everyone else. And like me, you're currently confused and scared that you are different from the others."

Ritsuko let out a humorless laugh. "It's a joke.. I'm one of the best scientist of the world, yet I can't even manage to know my sexual preferences. How did you do it?"

Maya shook her head. It was clear that while Ritsuko was a brilliant mind, she didn't work all too well with stuff outside of logic. "Even if I knew, everyone has to do it their own way. I can't give you a master plan to solve this. However, I can be there to guide you though this.... Of course, if you let me. I won't try to misuse your trust to get a cheap thrill out of it, but should our relationship delevop into more than just friendship... I would welcome it."

Seeing that Maya was fully honest with her, and that she wouldn't use her confusion to get 'easy access' to her, Ritsuko gave her a small, genuine smile. _She is like Shinji, too honest for her own good... Now I have to find the courage to admit to Yui Ikari what I and Gendo did..._

She knew that this would be hard.

* * *

_...that night, Misato's bedroom..._

"You know, I feel like every time we do this, we become better at it," Ryoji told Misato with a smirk, while watching her catching her breath. They had just finished an intense session of lovemaking, and now both needed some time to recover before they would continue. It had started innocent, with just a liitle bit of sake, and it ended with Misato dragging him into her bedroom. And after everything that had happened today, this was perfect to release the tension.

"I remember an old saying that you can only become a master through experience," Misato added with a smile. He had been so careful with her, knowing exactly what he needed to do to drive her wild. And at the same time they'd both felt so safe during their lovemaking. It was difficult to explain. "I wouldn't have believed a year ago that you could become such a sensitive and charming man."

"Oh, but you changed as well. You were literally obsessed with the past, and now you seem to be so open about looking forward." He then gently traced the scar on her belly, her constant reminder of the past. "I remember you almost blowing your lid when I tried to touch it. Now it doesn't seem to bother you anymore."

She knew, Ryoji would never believe her that she'd seen her dead father. No one would believe it. "As you said, I changed... I guess I finally want to go on with my life, want to enjoy it again. After all, I don't get younger... Just imagine what life might be like should this stupid war ever end. Maybe house and garden?"

She had a dreamy look for a second, before laughing. "Who do I kid? I'm a city girl."

"You know Misato..." Getting out of the bed, Ryoji searched for something in the pockets of his pants. "Since we're speaking about it... I know we agreed not to do this until the war is over, but I think we shouldn't wait.... I wanted to find some better, romantic moment, but I think it can't be more intimate than this..."

_I wonder what he could mean with that? _Misato had no idea what he was playing at. Finally he seemed to have found what he was looking for.

Kneeling before her, he presented her an open box. In it was a golden ring with a small, blue emerald embedded in it. "Misato Katsuragi, will you marry me?"

THAT was a surprise for Misato!

And after the first surprise was over, a big smile spread over her face. When her father had told her to embrace life, to go on and make the best of it, she hadn't exactly known what to do. Now she knew. And Ryoji proposing to her was the most beautiful thing he could've done.

"Oh, Ryoji, this is..." God she felt like a schoolgirl, unable to get out the right words! Her heart beat faster in excitement as she presented him her left hand in a clear sign of approval. He gently slipped the ring on her finger. And as soon as this was done, he pulled her up and kissed her. Her eyes went wide for a second, before giving in.

Finally, after long seconds, they parted, sitting on the bed. "I still can't believe that we just made this step... Ryoji, when do you think we should marry?" she asked him in excitement.

Smiling, he told her "As soon as possible! But I won't give you a lame excuse of a wedding. It will be a really big one. I can afford it. Question is only...western or traditional?"

"Oh, let's decide that tomorrow! Right now I feel like celebrating. Do you have something in mind?" she asked him in pure sexiness, knowing exactly what the answer would be.

"I think I have an idea, my cute fiancee..." he told her, smirking, while reaching for a new protection.

o

Across the corridor, Asuka groaned, trying to hide her head under her pillow while sleep eluded her.

The events of the day had been bad enough, so she didn't have any need to hear Misato and Mr. Kaji having sex. Sadly, the walls and doors in the apartment were rather thin and she heard all of it, which didn't help her mood in the slightest.

The day had been horrible. Beside the whole story with Rei, the news about what really had happened to her mother had thrown her into quite a depression. She had been tempted to get back into Unit-02, just to search for her, but Misato had forbidden it, saying that she should take her time so that she wouldn't do anything rash. As if that helped!

That the secret of Unit-02 was something like this... She still tried to deny it, but all the evidence spoke for it. It was difficult for her to decide what to do now. Should she reach out for her mother, try to help her to emerge like Shinji did with Yui? But then, who was she kidding? Shinji didn't even know how he did it.

_Everything is so fucked up! _Asuka groaned in depression, feeling her loneliness on top of everything, when another cry of ectasy from Misato was heard through the door.

* * *

_...in the middle of the night..._

_Rei knew that she was dreaming._

_The mere fact that she again was an adult woman was proof enough. And the circumstances were unusual enough to statisfy the creteria for a dream as well. How else could she explain standing totally naked in front of a big mirror, looking at her reflection, which sported a very rounded and very pregnant belly._

_Rei marveled for a moment at the knock-out of a woman she would come to be, looking extremely sexy even when being pregnant in her 8th to 9th month. And this time there was no confusion, now that she knew that she was capable of having children from now on._

_Two arms encircled her and a hard, masculisine, naked body pressed into her back. She knew by feeling who it was, and together they laid their hands on her rounded belly, feeling the baby kick. A feeling of warmth spread within her. She couldn't get enough of those baby kicks as she looked at the adult Rei in the mirror, an equally adult Shinji standing behind her._

_A huge smile spread over her lips._

Having woken up with a need to use the bathroom some minutes earlier, Shinji now returned to the bedroom. Looking down to Rei, he noticed that she now sported a huge smile. It seemed that she had a wonderful dream. After all the horrible stuff that had happened that day, it was a relief to see that it didn't haunt her.

Slipping under the covers, he gently spooned Rei, easing himself against her while putting his arms around her. She reacted in her sleep, rubbing herself against him as if to make herself comfortable, letting out a small sigh of fulfillment.

Shinji still had to think of the events of this day: how Rei had died, only to be instantly reborn. He still had a hard time following Rei's wish to ignore the whole thing and not treat her any different. He knew why she wanted to forget the whole thing. She didn't want let it rule her life. She wanted to go on, without this burden, now that she was back to full health.

It was strange to act as if nothing had happened, but he could see that it would make Rei comfortable if this wasn't mentioned at all. And frankly, since she was now alive and well, he couldn't fault her for her wish. No, he would never again mention it to her. She deserved to finally live a life in peace, now that all the clone bodies were destroyed.

This night alone had more than made up for what had happened earlier. Rei had almost jumped him as soon as the door had closed behind them. From there it had quickly turned into passionate lovemaking for a good part of the night. It seemed Rei's new body gave off a lot of sexual energy she needed to burn.

Of course that also meant that her body was in perfect condition, including the little fact that she was a virgin again. She hadn't accepted any apologies after he had deflowered her in the heat of action, saying that while it had hurt, the fact that it was for a good cause made up for the pain. And what had followed ideed more than made up for it, resulting in both of them being very tired but happy.

"Pleasant dreams, Rei..." Shinji whispered to her, before slowly drifting off to sleep, their bodies sharing their warmth.

* * *

_...at NERV HQ, next day..._

Misato faced an enemy she hated with a passion. An enemy so horrible and cruel, that even she sometimes felt that she should run away. And the worst was, the enemy always came back for more, torturing her for hours:

Paperwork.

As nice as the previous night had been, crowned by the surprise Ryoji had given her, the day following it up to now had been horrible. Lots of paperwork following the battle against the 16th Angel, including a letter of complaint from an environmental group over the destruction of several square kilometers of forest land. As if the possible destruction of mankind wasn't important compared to that.

It had only one advantage: she was away from Rei and Asuka for a while. She still had no idea how to act around Rei. Hopefully she'd learn to accept Rei's wish to simply ignore what had happened yesterday. And Asuka was still in a state that was heart-breaking. The poor girl obviously had no idea what to think, now that she knew the truth about her mother.

Reading another stupid complaint at the desk in her office, she felt the need for more coffee arising, or she wouldn't manage to get through the day. Thankfully, right then somebody decided to interrupt this boredom by entering. Looking up, she saw Lt. Hyuga.

"Hyuga, you're a saviour... What brings you here?" she asked him, standing up to relieve her stiff spine.

He was about to answer, when he saw the ring on her left hand. While he knew that Misato and Ryoji Kaji were together, he hadn't expected that it would go so far. So this came as a surprise. "An engagement ring?" he carefully asked, as if he didn't trust his eyes.

Misato had totally forgotten. The ring felt so natural that she had become so used to it's presence. That, and she'd meet no one she knew on her way to her office. So not even Ritsuko knew that Ryoji had proposed to her.

"Yes, Ryoji proposed to me last night. It was really romantic and we agreed to marry soon," she told him with a smile. She'd never before felt so happy about her private life. She now knew what her father had meant when he'd that she should embrace life.

Makoto finally composed himself, although he felt he had to feed this to the gossip machine as soon as possible. "This is really good... But why I'm here..." He gave Misato several papers. "My sources in Hong Kong finally tracked down where all the extra budget vanished to. It is quite interesting and disturbing."

Misato looked over the text and her eyebrowse rose up when realising what it meant. "Evangelion parts? Everything needed to create further EVA units? Why would the comitee order this?" she wondered, despite having a good idea, why.

"The comitee has become quite nervous and not very forthcoming with information. Since only one Angel is left, this can mean only one thing: they are preparing for a confrontation with NERV. Sadly, since we only just tracked down the orders, we have no idea how many units they plan to build," Makoto told her. He didn't like the idea of the commitee backstabbing them, but after all what had happened, it wouldn't surprise him.

"And according to this report, the parts vanish, to be never seen again, meaning that we will have no idea when and from where they could strike. Just like they love it," Misato hissed. It fit with the modus operandi of these megalomanics.

"I'm sorry that I was unable to gather further information, but the trace goes cold after this," Makoto apologised for the lack of any further leads.

Misato ignored her paperwork, going to the door. "No need to apologise. You did good work, Hyuga. I knew I could count on you..." Misato wasn't known to say this lightly. "I have to get this to the Vice-Commander. We're deeper in it than we first thought."

_MUCH deeper. If SEELE plans to use these Evangelions to attack us, we could be in deep trouble. An Angel is one thing... but a group of hostile EVAs? _she thought, while leaving.

Lt. Hyuga looked after her. _What a woman... Well, I hope she and Mr. Kaji become happy in their marriage._

He wasn't jealous of Mr. Kaji. He really wished to two of them the best. After all he knew when to let go. He'd gotten over his crush on Misato once it became clear that she was in a relationship with Mr. Kaji. He still held her in high regard, but it was time to move on.

There were other ladies in Tokyo-3 who could like a guy like him, after all.

* * *

_...at the same time, elsewhere in the geofront..._

Warm sunlight was reflected through an extensive mirror system into the geofront, helping the growth of the plants in it. These plants helped to make the geofront look more inviting, to make people forget that it actually was deep in the underground. The park-like environment was often used by the employees of NERV if they needed to relax during a break in their work.

It was why, right at that moment, Mayumi and Kensuke were in a secluded part of the geofront, protected from curious eyes by trees and bushes. Kensuke knew the he was skipping school right at the moment to be with Mayumi, but he didn't give a damn. His grades were good enough that he could allow himself this luxury. Even Hikari would understand his reasoning and leave him alone.

It was difficult for Mayumi to be so isolated in the geofront. She had to make sure that she wouldn't be seen by too many people outside certain circles, or she'd tempt fate to let some spy from the people who had done all these horrible things to her report her presence. It was depressing, and it was mostly Kensuke's presence that cheered her up. Sure, the others also tried to comfort her, but Kensuke simply had that certain something...

Putting her hand on her belly, she felt the stitches from the surgery that had saved her life. She didn't know what exactly had been in her, and she didn't want to know. Sometimes ignorance was bliss. "You know... You don't have to get into trouble for me," she told him. That Kensuke skipped school just to be with her... it actually impressed her a bit.

"To be honest, I don't care. Most of the time you're alone down here and I can imagine how hard that must be. So keeping you company is more important than school stuff," Kensuke answered. "You know, before you came I was the school hentai, mostly thinking of girls in terms of their 'parts' Even with Mana and Rei, it was a friendship at arm-length... I would've never thought I would become good friends with a girl. Guess you proved me wrong."

Mayumi blushed lightly. After being used as a doormat by others for pretty much all her life, it still excited her each time when someone did something selfless for her. "Even after what I was told, I still can't imagine you as a hentai. You're far too nice to be one..."

Kensuke was glad thad he'd stopped his perverted ways after Mayumi had entered his life. Otherwise, what would she think of him? "I guess it was sort of a defensive reaction to me being the outsider. Lusting after what I couldn't reach.... In a way it's ironic both of us outcasts in social school life became friends."

Mayumi grimaced; being reminded of that conjured bad memories. "Maybe fate is finally through with us being its punching bags? Although its last stunt had almost killed me..." She went silent.

Kensuke saw her starting to get depressed. Her near-death was something she didn't like to talk about. Coming a little closer, he held her hand. "That's over, they can't hurt you any longer... Don't let them win by brooding over it. Please... for me."

She shook her head. "My head knows that but my heart still needs more convincing... Let's not talk about it any further. Last thing I want right now is getting depressed. I did enough of that in the past."

"All right, no depression..." Awkwand silence followed for some moments, before Kensuke knew that he had to provide her with an opening for something different. "You know, it's amazing how much you have changed me."

This admission caught her by surprise. Since she thought she knew him by now. "I've changed you? I thought, aside from the hentai-thing, you were always like you are now."

"Maybe, but I acted quite different. I was a huge military-fanboy, that much you know, but I was almost completely posessed with becoming an EVA pilot. In retrospect it seems so stupid but essentially all my free time revolved around it, besides taping military hardware. I even walked around with a camcorder most of the time," he admitted.

Mayumi tried to imagine Kensuke always with a camcorder at hand. She failed. She hadn't even once seen him with one, meaning that he'd dropped this habit after being introduced to her... most likely _because_ he had been introduced to her. Also he hadn't talked too much about his hobbies with her. Considering what they were, he probably didn't want to bore her.

"I guess you being almost flattened cured you of that hobby?" She of course knew of the incident where he'd been almost squished by Trident's seperated cockpit.

"Yeah..." That was something he didn't like to be reminded of. Wetting himself and then being grilled by NERV-security had made that one of the worst days of his life. "And I only went there because you were sick on that day and I had nothing to do."

"You know that this is an amazing twist of fate? Two bespectacled teenage-nerds who are social outcasts, meet, and realize that they like each other.... I don't know what you think, but I have had enough of being the grey mouse that tends to blend in." Getting up she indicated to Kensuke to follow suit. "I want to enjoy life.... Although, -sigh- I actually have little idea how to."

Kensuke had no trouble to see that Mayumi's lack of an active social life in the past now hampered her ideas of how to fill her free time. She looked almost pleadingly to him for guidance. Remembering something Toji once told him as a side-note, he had an idea. "Hey, can you swim?"

"Not very well. I don't sink like a rock, but it ends there. But why do you ask?" she wondered.

"Toji told me they have an indoor pool at NERV. It's never used since only officers and the pilots usually have access to that area. My clearance actually allows me in there." _I bet Misato planned this in advance. _"What do you say, want to enjoy yourself and let me help you become a good swimmer? We just have to get some of the standard swimwear they keep in stock."

Mayumi blushed a little. She was a little bit uncomfortable with Kensuke seeing her in a tight and revealing bathing suit. But then she gave in with a smile. It was a small beginning after all and she'd get nowhere by being the shy girl.

* * *

_...and at an unknown place..._

The monoliths representing the 12 inner members of SEELE were gathered in a circle in a holographic room. Important decisions had to be made, now that things had gone into the most critical phase of their plans. A phase where small errors could have dire consequences. Holograms of the destroyed Angels were shown in the center of the circle, while Keel spoke to the other members of SEELE.

"Now all of the Angels up to the 16th have been destroyed, only one is left: Tabris, the last messenger. It had been a long path, with numerous sacrifices, but now the time is near," he told the gathered inner circle with a hint of satisfaction. All these years of preparation would soon pay off. "Soon mankind will ascend under our guidance."

"Yes, but there is still the problem of NERV!" SEELE 08 reminded him. "Ikari has become too troublesome, Fuyutsuki is not reliable after losing the lance and the services of Mr. Kaji have become rather meaningless. We have effectively lost control over them in this critical phase of the plan!"

"Let them think we still consider them to be useful. They do not know that we have all the needed data from the lance. Its loss is, contrary to what they think, not crippling to our plan. But it is true, they have outlived their usefulness. Good that we have the means to annihilate them when the time comes." No one could see it, but a sadistic smirk crept up Keel's features as they thought about what they would do to NERV.

"There are still some problems with the construction of the two remaining units. It will take some time," SEELE 04 reminded Keel, sounding unhappy about it.

Keel lost his smirk, this problem with construction had hit them unprepared and thrown off their time table. An annoyance of formidable size. "Yes, this is also, why NERV will get a temporary reprieve before its ultimate destruction... But this is for a later date... Tabris, step forward..."

The hologram of the Angels vanished and suddenly the the white-haired boy appeared in the middle of the circle, looking around in boredom. It seemed that the sight of the monoliths was something he saw too often. Finally, he adressed them. "The time is close for me to fulfill my destiny," he said matter-of-fact.

"Take your time, Tabris. We can't send you directly into NERV, so you will be on your own. You have fulfilled your end of the bargain, and now we will fulfill ours. You will be given everything you need in Tokyo-3. The rest is up to you," Keel told him, his voice making it clear that he disliked talking with him.

Tabris shook his head. "You still believe that your plan will work. I sincerely doubt that my father will allow it, once he is free. Even after all these years I still don't really understand you Lilim," he told them in light amusement, as if he was absolutely sure of it. "I can't wait to further explore this enigma you represent, before I free the all-father."

"Do as you please, as long as you try to fulfill destiny in the end. We will inform you once we expect you to move forward," Keel dismissed him.

A small smile crept up Tabris' face. "I will take my leave, then. You have provided me with much and yet you foolishly believe in a plan that destiny has already declared hopeless. It will be most interesting to interact with you Lilim outside of this controlled environment." Tabris then vanished into thin air.

SEELE 11 sighed. "Is it really neccessary to play along with him? While his help was essential for the mass production, he has become too rebellious during his stay with us. In the worst case his interference could seriously endanger the plan."

Keel chuckled - in a sinister way - before adressing these concerns. "While Tabris knows a lot, there are many things he does not know. He still thinks that his gift of foresight works as it should... He has no idea that he played into our hands when he accepted this body as part of the deal."

Everyone present understood what Keel meant with that. And they knew that this would be a one-way ticket for Tabris. Very pleased, Keel continued "The brat has no idea what really awaits him."

_**to be continued...**_

_**Next Episode:**_

_**"The New One in Tokyo-3"**_

* * *

Addendum: I'm planning that Misato and Ryoji have a traditional Shinto wedding, so any possible help you can give me for that future scene is welcome.

_Note From the Beta: Greetings! I have heard that some of you have issues about my delays in editing... yes, it is my fault; the author has been very speedy in his submissions to me. However, my summer has been anything but easy. I have two online classes, one of which is ending soon; my family has two houses to clear out and sell, due to family issues (one of which involves my Grandmother being put into a home). Also, I'm currently studying for the PCAT, a pharmacy based test that has taken a lot of my free time to prepare for. Add a fanfiction addiction to that pile, as well as a computer that is in need of a replacement, and you get my life. So, next time you feel the need to complain to someone about the delay in updates, come to me first, because it is most likely the reason._

_I am sincerely sorry for the delay, but I cannot promise speedy returns. However, I lose an online class and the upcoming PCAT next week, so I can promise that I will spend more time on my editing._

_Yours truly,_

_The Wandering Soul of 1014_


	35. The New One in Tokyo3

I will say these things in advance: I have absolutely no rights to NGE, but you should have already known that.

The story itself is basically a re-telling of the original storyline, but twisted into my way. While at the beginning there seem to be only few deviances, it will become more with each episode. The people, their motivations and the backgrounds are, while holding true to the basic layout, changed at my imagination in many details, so canon-purists now are allowed to flame me.

NOTE: I hate both, the ending of the TV series, and how End of Evangelion turned out. So don't expect either of those outcomes.

This is Shinji/Rei. Rei's life changes forever, but not only hers. Sorry for the long wait, but university stuff really slowed me down. Also I right now have no proofreader (again!). Now here it is, and Kaworu is entering the stage.

After you've read the chapter, **please Review!** Please tell me your opinion. I promise to answer every review I get.

* * *

**Chapter 34: The New One in Tokyo-3**

"It is interesting that there is so little growth on the speciem. Also it is quite elusive. Our tests so far have gotten nothing but conflicting data. To be honest, it is a little hard to believe that something as small as this has caused such a big disaster 16 years ago," the scientist reported to the man in the officer's uniform.

The officer at first said nothing, looking a the fluid-filled cylinder containing the embryonic form of Adam. He then turned around. "Continue anyway. After all, NERV managed to analyse Angel-matter, so it is possible!"

"Uhm, yes Sir!"

Leaving the lab, the officer wasn't pleased to see HIM standing outside. Their contact to certain circles in Russia. Like their group, they felt that their government had grown weak. They felt that even co-operating with a circle of Chinese military who felt the same about their own government was the lesser evil. Too bad that the contact was quite arrogant.

"Как эксперименты продолжить?"_ (How are the experiments proceeding?) _he asked in Russian, not bothering to speak Chinese, just to show off his rudeness.

The officer wished they could boot him out, but that was impossible. So he switched to Russian. "Мы не добились большого прогресса. Объект вполне удается. Как дела в Москве?" _(We don't make much progress. The speciem is quite elusive. How are things in Moscow?)_

"Мы делаем прогресс. Если все идет нормально, мы можем проникнуть в космос-производственной базы в несколько месяцев, чтобы получить машину они в настоящее время строить," _(We make progress. If everything goes all right, we can break into the EVA-production facility in some months to get the machines they currently build,)_ he answered, managing to continue sounding arrogant while keeping a face of stone.

Nothing connected these two, apart from the wish to topple their respective government. Moscow and Peking had grown weak in their eyes, and when the time would come, they would grab the power to return things to how they were supposed to be. Nothing more, nothing less.

That also meant that after that was done, they were free to bash in each other's heads.

* * *

_...Some days later, March 2nd, Tokyo-3..._

Asuka walked listlessly through the streets of Tokyo-3. It was such a beautiful day and the people took the time to enjoy it. That only reinforced the fact that she felt depressed. No, not only depressed, but also alone and empty. And now walking through the streets on her own, seeing all these people being in such a good mood deepened these feelings.

Today had started with the fact that they all had been excused from school. That was because they would have to get fitted their new plugsuits. Dr. Akagi had made it clear that since they were teenagers and still growing, they needed to have to get scanned for new suits from time to time. No surprise for Asuka, she'd gone through that already several times, after all she was a pilot since she'd been a small child.

The procedure was as unpleasant as ever, but at least they'd defused the embarrassment factor by installing a dark curtain between the tube and the control console to preserve their modesty this time. She'd been first to go through it, and now that this was done she'd nothing to do. The others were still in the geofront, she was excused from school while Mana was there right now... she had nothing to do. Nothing to distract herself with.

The people around her... Shinji and Rei were real close. Judging by how frequently Shinji was now missing in the evenings to spend his time with Rei, it left no doubt to how close these two had grown. The whole clone-thing had made their relationship only even more intense. Hikari and Toji... It seemed that the horrible experience of having their brains almost roasted and then getting back on their feet, had been real good for their relationship. She'd even caught them kissing in school when they'd thought no one would notice. Misato and Kaji... They were now in the wedding planning stage! Strange enough they wanted a traditional Shinto wedding and the priest at the temple they'd visited some time ago was eager to host it. Even Kensuke and Mayumi... Two nerdy, shy people started to have something that she didn't have. Asuka knew that Mana wasn't bothered by not having a boyfriend.

That left her. She hadn't told anyone, she actually was ashamed to admit it, but she felt lonely. Now that 'Asuka the bitch' was dead and burried, 'Asuka the girl' was still struggling to find her place in life. Sure, she'd managed to partly mend the relationship to her fellow pilots, but that couldn't fill that void she felt inside herself.

And then there was the whole thing with Unit-02.

She knew that everyone tried to support her, knowing that these news had been very hard for her. Shinji especially had tried to comfort her, knowing the feeling. Still, depite meaning well, they couldn't really understand, although it had been good to have friends who held you while you cried. Something she'd done several times, as embarrassing as it was.

Yesterday she'd finally managed to get Misato to allow her into the entry plug. She had searched so hard... but the feelings she'd got were diffuse, unfocused. Also she had sworn that she had heared someone whispering things into her ear. She'd finally accepted that unlike Shinji's mother, hers didn't have the ability to speak to her.

But at least her mother had given her the feeling unconditional parental love over the link. Something that had managed to cheer her up a bit. And cheering up was something she really needed these days.

Thinking of her mother... she really had to call her father and try to squeeze out of him what exactly he'd known. If it turned out that he knew what was going on he'd be glad that it was impossible to strangle people over the phone.

Looking up, she realised that she'd walked straight into the Tokyo-3 park. Actually the last place where she wanted to be, seeing all these couples and families. Sinking down on a park bench, she sighed. _Wen versuche ich zu veralbern? Ich weiß nicht wie es in meinem Leben weitergehen soll... _(Who do I try to kid? I have no idea what to do with my life...)

Sure, some things in her future were already a given. She would finish middle school soon, with the school year almost over, entering Japanese high school. She still had no idea why they insisted that she, who had graduated in Germany, had to visit school in Japan.

_Merkwürdiges Volk... _(Strange people...) she thought. She would never fully understand them.

But other than that... She had no idea what direction her life should take. She still shuddered at the memory of her grave, which the Devil had shown her. She wanted a future for herself, but had no idea with what to fill it. She wouldn't be a pilot forever, the war was almost over and her piloting services wouldn't be needed after it. Foremost, she didn't want to face this uncertain future on her own. She longed for having someone to share her happy moments, someone one whose shoulder she could cry on, who wasn't just a friend.

She knew that was wishful thinking. There was no one for her.

**-phi phi phi phiii phi phi phi phiii...-**

She looked up when she heared someone whistling "_Ode to Joy_". It was strange to hear someone, especially in Japan, whistling something like that. Classical music wasn't in high demand these days. Curios she looked around until she spotted the source.

There was a boy standing at the edge of the pond, whistling. His skin was pale and his hair snow-white. And then... Asuka gulped when he stopped whistling, looking in her direction. His eyes were red, calm and yet very emotional. They boy looked a lot like Rei, but Asuka remembered that he as well could be a natural albino, since he had no strange hair color.

"You know, I was told that it is a little rude to stare at people."

That shook her out of her thoughts. She hadn't noticed the boy walking over to her. He now stood barely three meters away from her and despite what he had just said, he had a smile on his lips as if nothing could take away his good mood.

"I'm sorry, I didn't want to..." Damn, why was she suddenly fumbling with her words?

The boy obviously didn't mind that. "Do not worry, I'm not offended. But I wonder, what made you so interested in me?"

Asuka hadn't expected him asking that. She's expected him to accept her apology and leave. "Uhmm... Ode to Joy? I didn't expect someone here whistling such a classic." God, she felt like sinking into the ground for acting so retarded!

However, the boy either didn't notice or didn't care and sat down beside her on the bench. "Musik ist etwas wundervolles, nicht wahr?"_ (Music is something wonderful, isn't it?) _At Asuka's astounded look he added "I heard your accent and guessed where you come from."

Well, that was unusual. People said that while they could clearly see that she was a foreigner, they didn't know where exactly she came from, even after talking to her for some time, until she'd tell them. This boy had to be quite smart to find out so fast. "No one found out so fast. You must be your school's prime student."

"Oh, actually I already have finished my learning some time ago." Seeing how this impressed her, he added, "Also, would I go to school, I wouldn't be here right now. After all everyone else our age is busy with preparing for their futures."

Asuka blushed a little. _Stupid me! Of course he doesn't go to school if he's here during this time._ Composing herself she knew that he had to be well mannered by the way he spoke. Although she felt the he seemed a little awkwand with her as well.

Then she remembered that she didn't even knew his name. "Oh... sorry. I totally forgot! I'm Asuka Langley Soryu."

The boy didn't seem to mind. "Pleased to meet you. I'm Kaworu Nagisa," he told he with a smile. He looked her face up and down for a few seconds, before adding, "You do not seem to be happy, despite this being such a wonderful day."

Asuka shook her head. "I don't feel so good. My life has become... very complicated recently. How do you manage to be so happy?"

"Oh, this is easy." He waved his hand over the park before them. "Look at this. The weather is good, the air is clean and the plants are in full blossom, spreading their beauty. Many forget these simple things that make our lives nice, take them for granted. I do not, and therefore I can enjoy them."

Part of Asuka felt that this was really idiotic and the view of a simpleton. However, after thinking a little about it... he was actually right. And thinking further... she had dwelled so much on the happiness of the others, that she had lost sight of these small things. "You... are really insightful. I've never met someone like you before."

"Everyone is unique... Therefore I also have never met someone like you," he told her philosophically. "I do not like to see people unhappy... Say, what is it that dampens your spirits?"

"Well..." She knew she couldn't tell him what was the matter with her mother. Also her being a pilot was pretty much taboo. However, she couldn't help but to like the teenage boy. He radiated an aura of calmness and friendliness.

Well, she could always bend the truth... just a little bit.

* * *

_...office of the Commander..._

Gendo was surprised that he hadn't noticed until now... his office was horribly depressing. This huge, wide area without anything for the eyes to concentrate on, apart from the engraved tree of life on the ceiling. While he hadn't noticed before, it now really disturbed him. He even wondered what exactly he'd thought when ordering it to be build that way. At least with the shutters open, enough light flooded the room.

Still, the room felt cold and empty. A side remark by Mr. Kaji two days ago had been to final pointer when he'd mentioned that the room felt dead.

Well, now it looked a bit different. There were now seats in front of his desk for visitors and a red carpet made the floor appear less cold. His picture of Yui was now openly displayed on his desk, since he no longer had any reason to hide it, and it was joined by a picture of a young Shinji he'd kept for sentimental reasons. There also were now several potted plants in the room, their green leaves giving the room much needed color. As idiotic as he'd first felt Mr. Kaji's suggestion was, actually tending to the plants had proven to be surprisingly calming for his nerves.

And that was good, since right now he thought about the recent events.

He'd been grilled by the military... real hard. They'd essentially forced him to reveal everything he knew and then made it clear that only his literal full surrender and co-operation with them had prevented him from being thrown into jail right away. And even then they'd told him that he was still with one foot in a cell. Should he do anything -regardless how small- against them, he'd find a nasty end. So they were now watching him, the military having expanded its presence in the city, now including the geofront. They took no chances, and that with good reason.

After all he was the man who had planned the end of the world just to be re-united with his wife and they knew this now.

Looking at Yui's picture, his thoughts moved to another problem: how to make up for his errors. That was Yui's condition for regaining her trust. Question was how he was supposed to accomplish this. It was such a vague thing... to make up for his errors.

Sure, treating the poeple around him as fellow human beings and not like chess pieces was an impovement, but he had no illusion that he had to do more than that. Everything up to now he'd accomplished rather indirect, like greenlighting that Rei could destroy all the remaining clones if that was her wish and him no longer treating the pilots as replaceable, no longer treating them like cannon fodder. No, to really make up to Yui, he would really need to fix his relationship with their son.

_Easier said than done after what happened, especially after my orders surrounding the auto-pilot... _he thought grimly, seeing how his past actions now came back to haunt him.

It was practically next to impossible to mend the rift between them. Classic 'father-makes-up-with-son' tactics were useless after all the physical and emotional pain Shinji had suffered. Add to it Yui's brother -who by now essentially had become his replacement as father- and there it was, the mission impossible.

_Yui... what am I supposed to do? _he wondered. _How can I show him that I'm truely trying to change?_

As hard as he had tried, there were no answers. And although he wasn't naive enough to believe that there would be an easy way, the lack of options was disheartening. He had been very thorough in making sure to alienate his son.

"This is useless..." he finally gave up thinking and turned his attention to the paperwork on his desk.

Fuyutsuki had hinted that he was drowning in the administrative work, and the man had been right. After all he himself had pushed all this work on him in the first place. So right now here was his share of today's work.

Opening up a rather formally written request, his eyebrows raised when he read what it was. It was a request for several days of leave from Major Katsuragi and Mr. Kaji because of... their weeding, which would be in less than two weeks. He had had no idea that they were about to marry, proof how much he had become isolated from his surroundings. Putting the request on his desk, he remembered his own wedding. It had been such a beautiful day, one of the best in his life. However, he also knew that weddings, especially traditional ones, were rather expensive.

He doubted that the two of them could afford a fitting wedding, especially since he imagined that the list of guests would be rather long. Having no clan to support them, it would be a rather simple affair.... On the other hand...

A small smile crept up his features. _At least I can discreetly help them to have a day no one would forget. They actually do deserve it after everything they did for us._

No one had said that Gendo Ikari would stop scheming. Only now it was the good kind of scheming. Misato and Ryoji would be pleasantly surprised once they would get the news that not only the funding of the wedding had received a major boost, but also that all of the possible guests could be present, being freed from obligations on that particular day.

* * *

_...Evangelion cage control, same time..._

_Keep yourself together... You just want to confess to a woman who is inside a huge battle machine which can squish you like a bug in a second... Good thing that she hasn't body control over it,_ Ritsuko thought, while locking the door to the cage control room. No need for someone coming in.

Walking through the dimly lit room, she looked through the observation windows to Unit-01. In the twilight of the currently not serviced cage it looked even more intimidating than usual. However, her musings were interrupted when one of the screens came to life, showing static before Yui's face appeared on it.

"Hello, Dr. Akagi. After noticing you looking at the EVA for over a minute, I think you want to speak with me," Yui greeted her.

"Uhm, yes. There is something..." Gods, this was harder than she'd thought it would be! Sitting down she tried to gather her courage. Thankfully Yui seemed to have lots of patience and waited for her to continue. "Gods, hadn't though it would so difficult..."

"I can guess that this has something to do with Gendo?" Yui finally inquired, having as suspiction what it could be. Hearing nothing was confirmation enough for her. "Judging by the fact that you are involved and you speak to me alone... I can harbour a guess what it is. Eleven years is a long time, I should have expected him to be unfaithful to me."

Ritsuko swallowed, Yui didn't sound happy in the slighest over these news. "It... it wasn't only me, but my mother as well... I thought he had chosen me over you... But he never invested any emotion into it. It was just business for him... I know that now." Hearing Yui say nothing, she nervously added, "Are you very mad at me?"

Yui finally broke her silence. "I'm more disappointed than mad. Not for the fact that you and my husband did these deeds. After all I'm not so naive to believe that he would have lived like a monk for all these years. It's more for his possible reasons why he did that and how you naively accepted his courting without question."

Ritsuko sank down into one of the chairs. "I think he did it just to bind me to him, so that I wouldn't dare to sabotage his plans... Damn, I became so jealous of you and Rei by proxy, since she has your face. I wanted him to forget you and finally go on..." She stopped when she saw Yui shaking her head on the screen.

"What a mess..." Yui said sadly, before again looking to Ritsuko. "I will give Gendo a piece of my mind, you can be sure of that... However, this doesn't mean you are off the hook. Were you really that desperate for emotional support?"

"It filled a void in me... I felt special. I acted like a love-sick schoolgirl after all these years where I followed my mother's advice to not get emotionally involved... I guess she told me that because of the emotional hurt after my father's early death.... I guess she got involved with him to fill the gap my father left in her."

Yui understood, but still felt that Ritsuko had acted rather immature and naive. "I won't yell at you. I'm smart enough to know that this won't accomplish anything. However, I'm still very disappointed in you... Right now I need to think about it. Please talk with me again after I've spoken with my 'dear' husband."

Ritsuko knew that this was more than she could have hoped for, while watching the screen go dark. However, she had no illusions. While Gendo would get most of the burnt, she obviously would get her share as well, regardless of whatever Yui was planning for her. Getting up and walking to the door, she was surprised to find Maya waiting on the other side.

"Maya, please tell me your curiosity didn't get the better of you," Ritsuko asked her. She didn't want Maya to know this, at least not yet.

"I would never do that!" She then added a little hurt, "I think you should know me better by now, Ritsuko."

Ritsuko knew that she'd goofed. "Sorry that I thought this of you... I just had one of my worse moments in life. I wasn't thinking."

Maya kept her hurt look for a few more seconds, before dropping it. After all she was a very forgiving person. "Just please don't do this again... As for why I'm here; I think you forgot that we want to test in half an hour how Unit-00 and 02 will react to the internal changes we did. Although I still hope we don't have to resort to this plan, since it is somewhat unpredictable."

Ritsuko knew why Maya was concerned. After all, these parts were never meant for actual use inside an EVA. "Well, for now we only test the changes, after all the centerpieces are still in their LCL tanks, were they will stay for now... However, you are right to be careful. This will be a last resort if things go real ugly."

"I still feel uneasy with it..." They walked down the deserted corridor in silence, until Maya looked to Ritsuko. "Can I ask you a personal question?" she suddenly said.

Ritsuko wondered what Maya could actually want to ask her. "Sure, as long as it isn't too personal."

"Ritsuko... why do you actually dye your hair? Uhm, and in case you wonder why I ask, your true hair color is showing at the roots rather prominently," Maya told her.

"My hair...?" Ritsuko needed a second before it clicked. "Oh, in all the stress recently, I totally forgot to get a hairdresser appointment. As for why I do this... At first I did it as a sort of rebellion against my mother, I think. I wanted to set myself apart from her. And later it became habit, I guess."

"No disrespect, but I think you'd look great with your hair back to its natural color... Hm, I imagine you could turn quite a number of heads as a natural brunette," Maya mused, imagining Ritsuko with brown hair.

Ritsuko stopped. "You... you really think I would look good with my hair back to natural?" The idea was hard for her to grasp. She was running around for so long with her hair dyed blond that she didn't know it any different.

"Yes, I do. You'd look great...uh..." she moved closer. "And please don't take this wrong, but I did hear some jokes floating around about your hair dye, one even calls you a hydrogen-bomb. Maybe no one ever told you open, but your dyed hair is still kind of frowned upon in society."

Yeah, she had encountered people that didn't like it, but that the personell made jokes about it, that was news to her. However, Maya's opinion that she'd look great with her hair back to natural was more important right now. Maybe she should make an appointment with the hairdresser to get all the dye removed from her hair? It at least would give several people a real surprise. And who knew, maybe she'd start to like having her hair back to natural?

"Maya... you just gave me an idea."

* * *

_...streets of Tokyo-3, next day..._

Again Asuka walked through the streets of Tokyo-3. This time however it was in the afternoon after school and she was in a different mood than the day before. Last day she'd only been depressed. Her depression however had lessened, making space for two different emotions: anger and curiosity.

The anger was easily explained. She'd finally made up her mind and called her father to get out if he did know what had happened to her mother. It had been rather easy to make him slip and reveal that he, unlike his late wife, had known that something could happen while she'd work on the insides of the plug -although he had no idea what exactly- but had said nothing. Of course he'd realised his slip right after, but then it had been too late and Asuka had digged deeper, getting out the stammered replay that her father had actually hoped something could happen.

It was right then that she'd let loose a stream of German profanity that had made even Misato blush, as her language proved to be real colorful. Asuka had ended the call with the regret that she couldn't strangle him with the phone chord and declared that from this day he and, as she put it, 'his whore of a wife' were dead to her (not that they had had much contact anyway in recent years). She'd then walked into her room and cried for half an hour over how betrayed she felt.

Her curiosity was centered on the boy she'd met yesterday.

Kaworu was truely an enigma. Despite his youth he was very insightful and yet down to Earth. He'd patiently listened to her describing how difficult her life had become. It was strange, but the more she'd told him, the more relaxed she'd become, as if speaking about it lessened the burden. Not even once had he interrupted her while she told him how she felt that she'd pretty much screwed up her life. She told him that she felt her life had come to a crossroads and she had no idea which way she should go. And she confessed something had happened to her mother that her caused the current depression she was in.

He'd waited until she was done with speaking, before he had given her some advice that she found to be quite surprising.

First of all he'd reminded her that she was still young and had her whole life still ahead of her, giving her more than enough time to find someone who she could share her life with. He'd added that she already had the good looks, so continuing to improve and being nice to people would result in a charming personality and ensure that with time she surely would find someone who would like her. He'd added that it would be arrogant for him to suggest which way her life should take. He'd instead suggested that she should take her time and slowly discover the things she liked to do.

As for her mother, Kaworu had suggested that although it was only natural to grieve over the loss of someone, she would have surely wanted her daughter to go on and not break down under a burden of grief. He was sure, she would have wanted her daughter to enjoy life after paying her respects to the deceased.

She'd never seen it for this point of view. Her mother surely didn't want her to become depressed over the truth. They'd talked for almost another hour, although it was mostly banal things. Now that she thought about it, she'd learned only little about Kaworu himself before she'd excused herself that she needed to go.

_Wirklich merkwürdig, daß jemand völlig Fremdes so einfühlsam sein kann,_ (Really strange that some total stranger can be so compassionate,) she wondered.

Turning around a corner, she stopped. "Speak of the devil..." There he was, Kaworu. He didn't seem to have noticed her, being very busy with examining an ice cream cone as if it was an alien artifact. Gods, this sight alone managed to lighten up her mood and she had to suppress a laugh. It looked so funny how he analysed such a simple object.

"You know, I think it will taste better if you actually eat it," she remarked while walking towards him.

Looking up, he did seem surprised to see her again. "Oh... hello Asuka," he greeted her. He'd called her Ms. Soryu one time yesterday and she'd told him that it made her sound old, insting on a first-name basis. "I actually do plan to eat it. I just never before had one of these."

"You're as old as me but you've never before eaten ice cream?" Asuka wondered, raising an eyebrow. "Please tell me that you made this up."

"Actually, no. I have never had an opportunity to eat one," he declared, then started to taste it. "And now I know that the taste is very nice. This is now another thing that makes my day better."

Asuka could only shake her head. While Kaworu was real nice, he also was a little odd. Not as odd as Rei had been, only as if he'd grown up watching the world from a distance. "You know... I'm actually glad to meet you again. I really need someone to talk with."

"Oh... do you still feel sad?" he asked her, while finishing his ice cream.

"No. Now I actually feel angry... and betrayed." She only barely managed to not raise her voice. The memory was still too fresh and every time she thought of it, the pain returned as well. Gods, she really had to speak with him.

"Someone betrayed your trust? Seeing how much you tremble, the betrayal must have been real bad," he observed, as if his eyes were capable of reading her very body language.

"Bad is no word for it... I found out that my father knew of the dangers my mother would face, while she didn't. He didn't say anything because he hoped it would free his way to be with this...this... Sorry, but I don't trust myself to not slide into gutter language," she explained to him, her tembling getting stronger the more she told him.

"So one parent betrayed the other for petty and egoistical reasons? I can relate to that." For the first time since she'd met him, Kaworu looked sad.

"Sorry... I didn't..." but Asuka had no chance to continue, when he raised his hand.

"No, maybe it's better to speak about it. My mother... essentially married my father just for the reason to manipulate and control him. When she realised that he was simply too strong-minded and also slowly learned that there was no love, she did some really bad things to him. Me and my siblings shunned her for it," he told Asuka, sounding real sad... and angry.

"You sound like you hate her," Asuka observed. This was the first time she'd seen something resembling anger in his eyes.

"I try to be a positive-minded person... However, she is propably the only thing that can stir such a dark emotion within me," Kaworu said carefully, while trying to get his emotions back under control. "I don't want her to darken my day."

Knowing that he didn't want to speak of it anymore, Asuka decided to change the topic. "You know, you told be yesterday that you are still new in the city. What do you think, want me to show you around?"

"I glady accept the offer. I still try to get used to this place and can use all the help I can get." He then added with a small smile "I am sure I will enjoy learning more about my new home."

Asuka couldn't help but to like him. He took nothing for granted and was always so nice to her. He had great manners and last but not least, was also very good looking. Despite her being pretty ignorant in matters of friendship, she felt that this was the beginning of one.

* * *

_...meanwhile, at a noodle vendor..._

Hikari could only shake her head, watching Mana slurping her noodles in a way that wasn't very ladylike. Her mother had taught her table manners very early and had been very thorough in it, since as she put it, 'a girl needs to have a high standard of manners'. Therefore it irked her that Mana sometimes could act so tomboyish. She'd expect Toji to eat like this, but not her.

Finally being done with the noodle, Mana looked up, noticing that Hikari yet had to touch her noodles. "You know, they're going to be cold if you don't eat them soon." That finally shook Hikari out of it, remembering that she was here to eat as well, among other things.

Watching her starting to eat, Mana added. "You know, I can guess that you didn't take me to a mobile noodle vendor just for food. I guess this is a social call, so where is the fire? You and Toji having problems? Is he trying to get under your skirt?"

Hikari nearly choked on her noodles. Barely swallowing them, she blushed heavily and looked in shock to Mana. "Mana, it's nothing of that sort! I... I just need some girl talk, that's all."

Mana raised an eyebrow. "Why me of all people? Didn't you have closer friends?"

Rolling her eyes, Hikari put down her chop sticks. "First off, you are my friend; there are no friends second class... Asuka left as soon as class was finished. Also I doubt that she would be talkative right now, considering this thing with her mother. And Rei is far too busy to do stuff together with Shinji, these two seem to have grown together at the hip."

"Oh, I can definitely agree with the last statement," Mana told her with a big smile.

Hikari only now noticed how that had sounded. "NO! I don't mean it like that, even if they do these things!" Only when hearing Mana's giggling she finally realised that right now she'd made an ass of herself. "I guess this all came over wrong?"

Finally getting her giggling under control, Mana flashed her a smile. "I don't mind. After what happened recently, I really needed that. You know, speaking of this... have you and Toji done anything beyond kissing?"

"More than that? No way. Mom would have his head if we dare to do something like that. She told me that I can forget anything like that until I've turned sixteen. She propably thinks it could turn into an underage pragnancy, despite knowing that I'm on repress meds. Maybe she also fears that I turn out like Kodama. Besides that... I know that despite the hentai thoughts he sometimes has, he hasn't yet the courage to do something like that with we."

"Wow, despite acting all tough he is real considerate of your feelings," Mana remarked. She knew that Toji Suzuhara was one of these boys who liked to play the alpha, so this was news to her. However, catching the look in Hikari's eyes, she realised that the girl wanted to change topic away from her love life. "You also already prepare for the high school exams?"

"Yes, hard to believe that with everything else going on, we still also have to learn for our high school entrance exams... I guess that's the way it goes, even the saviours of the world can't escape the formal reqirements," she told Mana..

The whole things was about to become serious in several weeks. The school year was coming to a close and all of them would finish middle school. Since just finishing middle school was nowhere near enough to get a job, everyone wanted to get to the high school. And the entrance exams were killers. All of her friends would soon start to learn for the exam, seriously reducing their free time.

Well... she guessed most of them. Asuka was so smart that she obviously would breeze through it, now that her Kanji problems were mostly solved through sheer determination. And Rei... she was just Rei. Even after getting a life, she was a role-model student who always got good scores. She'd asked her one time what her secret was. Turned out that she simply was good at learning with the high levels of concentration she had at her disposal.

Sometimes Hikari envied Rei.

"Hey, look!" Mana suddenly called to Hikari, pulling her out of thoughts.

Looking to where Mana pointed, Hikari was met with a surprise. In the midst of the people on the sidewalk on the other side of the road, there was Asuka, walking together with a white-haired boy of her age. It seemed that they were busy with talking and Asuka looked real relaxed, as if she enjoyed being with him. Then they vanished in the crowd.

"What do you think? Looks like an interesting development, don't you?" Mana asked Hikari wish a smirk that told her that Mana really found this cute. "Would have never thought..."

"At least we now know why she left so fast after school ended," Hikari more said to herself than to Mana. "I don't recognise him, he's clearly not from our school. After all, there aren't that many boys with white hair."

"You think we should ask her for his name?"

Hikari held up her hands, as if trying to block something invisible. "Oh no! No chance! I won't snoop around in her private matters!"

Mana didn't want to comment Hikari going all defensive. It seemed to her that Hikari still was too careful to not anger Asuka. It was simply asking for the boy's name, nothing more. It's not that they wanted to ask her about her sex life or something like that.

_Sometimes Hikari can be such a prude. Which is bizarre, because she normally has no qualms to ask other girls about their sex life... _she thought, while returning her attention to her noodles.

* * *

_...at the evening, Misato's apartment..._

"I never imagined that planning a wedding could be so difficult..." Misato moaned, while looking at the stack of papers on her desk. "So much to prepare. Tell me, why did we agree on a traditional Shinto wedding?"

"Well, mainly because you felt that it would be something truely different after watching all our friends having western weddings," Ryoji commented, while giving her a cup of fresh coffee. "I think it will be real nice. The only downside is, that we really have to study what exactly to do."

"Don't remind me..." Misato groaned. Having grown up in westernised surroundings, both of them really had to study what exactly was expected from them at the wedding. "We can call ourselves lucky that the children knew of the temple at the edge of the city. The priest sure was eager to host the wedding."

"It didn't hurt that he got voltuneers to help with the preperations and the ceremony," Royji remarked. "Some of your co-workers are really great people to do this on their own accord."

Misato gave him a small smile. "Despite what some might say, I'm not a dragon and do treat my co-workers fairly... Oh, that reminds me... You got any idea why the Commander suddenly decided to be so generous? I mean, we're now able to finance the whole thing without problems and it is now quite a guest list."

"I say two words: marital problems. You can bet that he does this to show to his wife that he's trying to make up. Not that I complain about the results. Having his wife roasting his ass over a small flame is a good reason to change," he said, adding the last thing with a sarcastic tone.

"Oh, better pray that it is not not your ass that will be roasted in the future. Your soon-to-be wife is watching you..." Misato returned with a smirk. She then added, as if remembering something, "You know, it will be rather confusing once people refer to me as 'Major Kaji'."

"Oh, I think it is a good name..." Ryoji said, while standing behind her, slowly massaging her stiff shoulders.

"Mhhh... oh please, that's good... but not now..." Misato tried to protest, despite liking how it relaxed the stiff muscles in her shoulders. "Ohhh, you are such a distraction..."

"Oh, I know. I love it to distract you..." he whispered into her ear, while watching Misato easing herself against him. He knew after all the prepaeration stress she needed this. "What do you say, let's call it a day and...?" He let the last part hang in the air, knowing that she got the idea.

"I would really like to..." Then she sighed. "But we can't. Not here. Remember Asuka's threat after last time. We can't do this here until we've soundproofed my bedroom."

Yes, Ryoji remembered now. The morning after he'd proposed to Misato, Asuka had intercepted them, looking as if she hadn't slept all night. She'd said that she'd nothing against them doing it like the rabbits, but one more night with the all the noises of them having sex filling the whole apartment and she would crush them with the foot of her Unit-02. Granted, it wasn't a totally serious threat but at least made it clear that they should take her and Shinji in consideration.

"Yeah, party pooper..." Royji seemed to think about it for a second. "You know, the main problem is, that you are quite vocal. Yeah, a screamer. Should we manage to seal that cute mouth of yours, nothing can escape from it to anger Asuaka, until we get soundproofing."

Misato's eyes widened. "You want me to wear a gag?" But then she thought about it, and the idea had a certain sexual appeal that managed turn her on. "That sounds...interesting. But where to get one?"

Ryoji gave her an interesting smile. "Oh, you wouldn't believe what kind of shops exist in this city. I can get you a special one in less than ten minutes."

Misato didn't doubt his words.

* * *

_...two days later..._

Watching the sunset over Tokyo-3 from the roof of the apartment building he was living in, Tabris tried to sort out his feelings. Something that was harder than he'd first thought. It seemed that Keel had been right, all these years in this body they had created for him as part of the deal had changed him. True, some years were nothing for an Angel who had lived billions of years. But at the same time, his original form was pretty much without substance and therefore unfeeling.

The Lilum body he'd been possessing had went through numerous changes recently, accounting to it reaching the stage where it would start to mature. And although he'd thought himself above such things as body chemistry, he'd bonded himself with the body so much that it was affecting his mind. Indeed, inhabiting this body had given him a different perspective.

Mortality was one of these things.

Sure, the Angels could also die with enough brute force, as had happened to his brothers and sisters. However, their essence had simply returned to the all-father. Right now they were like seeds and the all-father would do with them as he would deem right. The Ancient Ones truely had done great work in creating Adam.

He'd been so fascinated that he'd closely monitored the deaths of numerous Lilim to understand. It was...confusing. The energy of their minds didn't just dissipate. It somehow... left. And there were different ways; sometimes it was in a real peaceful way as if welcoming it, while other times it was as if dragged away to their doom. Truely perplexing. It made him wonder if the myths of punishment and reward after death were actually true.

Tabris shook his head, there again his mind had drifted. Another of these results of living like a Lilum.

He needed to concentrate on the here and now. And that mainly concerned how he was acting around Asuka. He of course knew that she was an EVA pilot, and also knew by what she had told him, that she somehow had come into contact with the soul of her mother. But it wasn't that... It was how he caught himself acting around her.

He'd wanted to observe the Lilim in the city, learn as much as he could from them. He hadn't planned to spend so much time with her. He'd planned to not return to her after the first day. However, he at first had told himself that there was more to learn form her at the second day. Today, by the fourth day, it had become clear to him that he'd stayed around her because he wanted to.

_Is that what the Lilim call being attracted to someone? _he wondered. This was something he'd never felt before and it made him react strange.

He wondered if he should dare to continue becoming friends with her. He was sure he'd break her heart.

After all he would leave togther with the all-father Adam, once putting his mind back into his body. Adam would surely want to report to the Ancient Ones that Earth was a success (even though it wasn't him who'd steered evolution to create mankind) and he would go with his father. After all he had checked the entire planet and found no trace of the traitor-mother Lilith. Obviously her last act against Adam had killed her.

Looking to the setting sun, Tabris finally had to admit it to himself. Keel had been right; he'd turned partially into a Lilum and his brothers and sisters would have propably shunned him by now, had they been still alive. After all they had seen mankind as little more than bugs created by their traitor-mother.

_How blind they had become to others outside of our circle... _he thought, while continuing to watch the sunset.

_**to be continued...**_

_**Next Episode:**_

_**"Sitzkrieg"**_

Addendum: I'm planning that Misato and Ryoji have a traditional Shinto wedding, so any possible help you can give me for that future scene is welcome. I have little I idea how these weddings go, so please try to help me with information. I at least need to know how these weddings roughly go.


	36. Sitzkrieg

I will say these things in advance: I have absolutely no rights to NGE, but you should have already known that.

The story itself is basically a re-telling of the original storyline, but twisted into my way. While at the beginning there seem to be only few deviances, it will become more with each episode. The people, their motivations and the backgrounds are, while holding true to the basic layout, changed at my imagination in many details, so canon-purists now are allowed to flame me.

NOTE: I hate both, the ending of the TV series, and how End of Evangelion turned out. So don't expect either of those outcomes.

This is Shinji/Rei. Finally the big day is there and Misato and Ryoji marry. I had to do quite some research, I hope I managed to catch the spirit of the ceremony. Also, Kaworu fans will see more of him and Shinji and Rei return after being absent from the previous chapter.

After you've read the chapter, **please Review!** Please tell me your opinion. I promise to answer every review I get.

* * *

**Chapter 35: Sitzkrieg**

Walking through the corridors towards Ritsuko's office, Misato still felt a little tired, even after a long night's sleep, a good breakfast and another relaxing shoulder rub from Ryoji. She'd have never dreamed that preparing herself for her wedding would be so exhausting. She didn't want to imagine how it would've been without their friends helping out in the preperations.

However, right now she needed to talk with Ritsuko about business. Finally she reached the right door and didn't bother with knocking; walking right into her office. "Ritsu, I need to..." She stopped, blinked, and then again looked at her friend, wondering if her eyes played tricks on her.

"Yes, Misato?" Ritsuko asked when looking up from her work, knowing exactly what had prompted this reaction. However, she wanted to see Misato's further reactions, so she played dumb. "Is something wrong?" Her voice almost sounded a bit too innocent.

_Looks like Maya won the bet, _she thought, not really sad about losing. Seeing Misato dumbfolded was well worth the small financial loss.

Finally Misato overcame her surprise of seeing Ritsuko's now brown hair. "Why did you dye your hair brown?" she wondered, looking at the hair that some days ago had stil been dyed blond. As far as she could remember, Ritsuko always had had blond dyed hair. Hell, she even had no idea what her natural hair color was.

Ritsuko smirked. "Oh, that's no dye. Yesterday I had an appointment with the hairdresser to remove all the dye from my hair. I felt like wearing it natural again," she patiently explained to her friend, enjoying the dumbfolded look Misato gave her during the explanation. "Do I look good?" she added, combing her fingers through her hair.

Finally Misato composed herself, feeling stupid that she'd let Ritsuko's return to her natural hair color confuse her so much. "I bet you'll turn some heads. Don't get me wrong, but a Japanese woman with blond hair isn't all that attractive to men here." She then finally remembered the reason for speaking with her. "Anyway... Ritsu, I need you to look at this. We puzzled that together from various sources and can't make any sense of it."

Accepting the piece of paper, Ritsuko looked at the list printed on it. Scanning through the various electronics, chemicals and other things listed on it, her eyes widened and she sobered up. "That's not good... This list contains most of the components needed for the construction of dummy plug systems."

Misato's mood darkened as well. "It does make sense. Remember that they're building more EVA's. Guess they don't want to have to rely teenage pilots that could decide to desert them in a battle. But Ritsu, didn't you say that Rei was the heart-piece of the auto-pilot system?"

"Yes, it were her neural patterns, together with parts from her clones, that gave life to the system. Without it, the system is impossible to build." Ritsuko put the list on her desk. "This would only make sense if SEELE had also created a being similar to Rei, but then why were they so insistant on us doing the experiments in the first place?"

"Who knows how megalomanic psychos tick?" Misato looked grim. "It only proves what we suspect. After we have defeated the 17th Angel, SEELE will attack us." She didn't want to imagine the horrible destruction that a battle between Evangelions could cause. Something that propably would make most of the Angels pale in comparison.

Ritsuko didn't like it, either. And she also suspected that they were missing a part of the puzzle about the Evangelions that SEELE was building. She couldn't put her finger on it, but an auto-pilot system wouldn't be too effective against their seasoned pilots. In fact, it would be pretty useless. They had to have some sort of advantage which they planned to use against them. Question only was, what it could be.

"Better get this to the Commander." Misato turned to leave after taking back the list, when Ritsuko added, "Oh, and Misato?... Even though that's serious, don't let it ruin your wedding."

"I won't give them that statisfaction," Misato said in defiance, before she left.

Ritsuko watched the door, waiting. Right now she needed something to lighten her mood. And she knew what this would be. _Let's see how long you need... _She didn't have to wait for too long. Less than a minute later someone knocked on the door and Maya then entered. The young woman carefully closed the door while Ritsuko got up, walking to her.

"Looks like you were right, Maya. Misato was totally dumbfolded by my hair. I guess I now owe you a big chocolate milkshake according to our bet," Ritsuko told her with a slight smile. She wasn't sad in the slightest that she'd lost the bet, it had been more of a joke thing anyway. After all the last days had been refreshing, as Maya was an interesting woman to talk with. It proved again that Maya simply was someone you couldn't help but to like.

Maya didn't answer at first, a light giggle the only thing escaping her lips. Then she finally pulled herself together. "See, I was right. You do look great with your hair back to natural. You do look even more attractive that way," she told Ritsuko with a smile.

"You know, Maya, we agreed to see how things develop... " Ritsuko said, while standing close to Maya. "And I still don't know exactly what I want.... However, I have to admit that I really like you.... So while this here is nothing definitive and I'm still unsure if I like you _that _way, here my thank you for being a good friend."

Maya wondered what Ritsuko could mean, while Ritsuko pulled all here courage toether, as she right now was about to enter uncharted waters. "Ritsuko, what do you mmmmmpphhh!" Maya was silenced when sudden Ritsuko's hands sized her head and she pressed her lips on hers!

Maya was too surprised to react, although it did feel really nice to have Ritsuko's lips on hers. Also it wasn't a deep kiss, just lips on lips. After some seconds that felt like an eternity, Ritsuko released the now blushing Maya.

_I really did it... And I enjoyed it. I guess this answers my question, _Ritsuko though, while watching Maya develop a smile.

The rest of their talk went by as a blur for Maya, who constantly had to remind herself that Ritsuko still was unsure if she wanted to go this way. Like in trance she walked back to the bridge, ignoring the strange looks everyone gave her. Finally reaching her bridge level, she was about to get to her seat, when...

"Hey, Maya! Do my eyes play tricks or is that lipstick around your mouth?" Shigeru Aoba suddenly called from his spot beside the coffee maker, loud enough so that everyone nearby could hear it.

That finally shook Maya out of it. Looking into a reflective surface she saw to her dismay that he was right; Ritsuko's lipstick was smeared around her mouth. Letting out a small gasp she yanked a hanky out of her pocket and removed the lipstick hastily, before looking annoyed to her co-worker. "Thanks so much, big-mouth!"

Shigeru tried to look as innocent as possible. "What? You had something in your face." But Maya was not fooled, she knew it would go through the rumor mill in no time.

* * *

_...cage control center, later that day..._

Misato had no idea what had happened between Ritsuko and Maya, but each time Ritsuko looked to Maya, the young woman blushed. To be honest, she didn't even want to know. Some things were meant to stay private.

Her presence during a standard synch-test in the real Evangelion units wasn't needed anymore, with all the pilots having stable ratios. The pilots actually didn't even know that she was there. While she trusted Ritsuko and Lt. Ibuki to stay silent (at least she hoped so), she didn't want the children to hear what she was about to ask Yui Ikari, the only woman left who could answer her questions.

Looking to the screen where the picture of the woman in question was right now talking with Ritsuko in some sort of exclusive scientist-language, she decided to make her move. "Ritsu?"

"Hmm?" Ritsuko looked rather bored. That was no wonder. She would've never dreamed that someone could get her lost with a pile of scientific terms. But Yui Ikari right now put her to shame and she was hard pressed to even understand half of what the computerised woman was saying. Ritsuko had no doubt that this was part of Yui's plan to punish her... And for a woman with no body she did a really good job.

"Is that line secure? I don't want Shinji to listen in," Misato asked her.

Ritsuko raised an eyebrow, wondering what this was about. "Sure, we did that so that he won't be distracted."

Yui then interrupted her. "Well, Dr. Akagi, I can guess what she wants to talk with me about. Considering that she's about to marry in three days, she's feeling that she needs advice for the married life..."

Now Ritsuko was interested! "Well, don't let me interrupt you two!" she told them a little too eager, propably to escape from being further lost in unknown scientific terms, before she turned her attention to some other instruments. But both, Yui and Misato, knew that she of course would be listening to every word. Hopefully she'd have enough tact to stay silent.

"I guess you are all nervous about the whole thing and wonder if you can measure up to the high expectations put into newlyweds?" Yui asked Misato right away, feeling that she needed to do the first move to get the woman to loosen up.

"How can't I? My parents' married life was a disaster and I want to do it better. But after getting all this good advice from my recently married friends... Now I'm more confused than before. What the hell am I supposed to do?" It wasn't very characteristic of Misato to sound so... desperate, but the question how she had to act as a married woman had started to rob her sleep in the last days.

Yui's picture shook her head. "Let me guess, most of the stuff they told you was about how a woman is supposed to act after the wedding in married life?"

"Yeah. You wouldn't believe some of it. I wonder where they get this stuff?"

Yui again shook her head. "Well, the first thing you should do is to forget all this stuff. Actually, forget the mere idea how having to act different. It's all stupid anyway."

"Huh?" Misato was rather surprised of that bit of advice.

"Most newlyweds get all these stupid ideas from books that were first published decades ago. You can imagine what woman were expected to do in in married life in the sixties...." Yui let it hang in the air before she continued "So forget about it. Just do what you and your soon-to-be husband feel is right to do. That worked wonders for me."

"To be honest I have difficulties to connect a happy marriage with the Commander..." Misato honestly told Yui, hoping that she wouldn't offend her.

Yui sighed, she didn't like to talk about it. "I can't fault you. After all, you've only seen what he'd become. Back then he was very different. Our married life was so good because we agreed that we both need our own space sometimes. We watched each other's backs and promised to listen to each other to prevent unwise decisions. Sorry if I sound a little bitter, but after everything..."

"No, I understand..." _After all, I too would be majorly pissed if Ryoji suddenly would decide to become Darth Asshole..._

o

Half an hour later the control center was deserted, the tests done for today, and only dimly lit. The lights in the cage were also shut off, only the lights from various machines dimly breaking through the darkness. However, the silence was disturbed when the door opened and a man walked in.

The man seemed unsure how to proceed, standing in the middle of the room, the dim light not illuminating his features. He looked into the dark cage, where he barely could see the outline of Unit-01 in the semi-darkness of the huge hall. But then his attention was pulled towards the instrument panel, when one screen came to life.

"Gendo, please stop the theatralics... I watched you for several minutes, and seeing a grown man sneaking around as if fearing being caught at looting the cookie jar is just embarrassing," Yui scolded him.

With a sigh, Gendo pushed a button on the console, raising the light level. "It's just nerves..." Sitting down, he decided that coming right to the point would be best for both of them. "Yui, I have no idea how to make up to our son! Everything I thought about was either not enough or inappropiate. How am I supposed to mend that rift if I can't find any way to do so?"

Yui didn't show much sympathy -not that Gendo had expected any- and looked hard to him. "You thought about everything?"

"Everything! It's not like one of these usual father-makes-up-with-son problems! He would just tell me to leave him alone... Your brother pretty much has taken my place and Shinji obviously wants it to stay this way..."

Yui said nothing. She hated to admit that she'd ignored that Shinji could feel so well in the current arrangements, that he would reject all and every attempt from Gendo to lessen the distance between them. She knew of all the other things he'd done up to now, which spoke for his effords to get better, but she honestly also had no idea concerning their son. "Maybe I should talk with my brother... Although I have little hope. He can be very stubborn."

Gendo knew that he should be glad for even the smallest help. "You can't imagine how thankful I am... Apart from a heroic sacrifice, I have no idea what to do."

Yui shook her head. "Let's hope that it doesn't come to that..."

* * *

_...Tokyo-3 park..._

"...and I feel like screaming sometimes. Everything revolves around Misato's upcoming wedding. And she unloads her stress by forcing me to learn for the exams like mad, despite knowing that I already know all that stuff," Asuka told Kaworu, while they both sat in the shadow of a big tree.

"Do not think bad of her. She does care a lot for you and wants you to have a good future. It is only natural that she forgets some things with such a turning point in her life before her," Kaworu commented, while enjoying the quiet atmosphere of the park.

Asuka again found herself admiring how Kaworu could find such truths without sounding like a smart-ass. It seemed that only little could unbalance him, as well. One of these topics was his mother, something she didn't dare to mention after the first time. Kaworu also wasn't like these other boys, who only thought about sex. He held his distance and Asuka was quite sure that he wanted it to be her to make the first move. Whenever she was together with him, all her anger and stress seemed to diminish and she became relaxed and peaceful. Good thing that none of the other had seen her like that yet, since they'd wonder if she still was the same person.

"You know, speaking of education... I wonder what you plan to do once you are grown up? I for my part still can't make up my mind if I should take some kind of job, or to study to get a doctorate," she then asked him, after taking a sip from her soda can.

Kaworu seemed to hesitate for a moment, as if wondering what to answer, before he spoke. "To be honest, I do not have thought about this. I am so well off, that I do not need to work. Right my... uncle is paying for all my expanses."

Kaworu felt that he had almost screwed up. He had totally forgotten that Asuka could ask questions about his life and that he should've been prepared for that. That he'd designated Keel as his uncle, however, wasn't free of a certain humor, since after all the man had ordered the construction of his current body. He found it also interesting that he disliked the idea of lying to her, so telling the truth without actually revealing anything was his chosen course of action.

"I can't imagine just doing nothing..." Askua said, while aimlessly looking over the park. "Sure, it's great for a while. But over time I'd go crazy."

Kaworu didn't answer to that. After all, he could hardly tell her the truth, that he'd existed for billions of years as a being with no solid body, simply hovering in a strange dimension with his siblings, essentially doing nothing at all but thinking. It was a sort of existence that Lilim were unable to understand. And to be honest, after some years on the world he couldn't imagine returning to this way of life. Even after such a short time it seemed so unreal to him.

The silence stretched on for minutes, until Asuka broke it. "I wish you could be there, at the wedding. Too bad that it's invited guests only.... -sigh- Looks like I'll be bored to tears while the other girls are there with their boyfriends..."

Kaworu looked quizically to her. "You think of me as your boyfriend?" he asked, as if not even sure what he exactly should think of that term.

"NO!... I mean..." God, why did her face suddenly feel so warm? When did she become such a mushy girl? She felt she had to get her act together, or she'd sound like a total moron. "I mean, it's too early to see if that's the case."

"Oh." Kaworu really didn't know what to think of that statement. That was a part of human behaviour he had the least knowledge about. Yet he wondered why he felt a sort of disappointment in his innermost being. It was all so confusing. Even for a being that was billions of years old, human nature remained an enigma.

_Verdammt! I must have hurt his feelings,_ Asuka slightly paniced. "Look...I.. I didn't mean it that way. It's just that I myself don't exactly know yet what to think."

Kaworu held up a hand to signal for her to stop babbling. "To be honest, I myself do not fully understand such matters. Up until I met you, I never had to deal with such a situation. I know ever less than you do. We shouldn't let our insecurities ruin this beautiful day."

Asuka slightly shook her head, while leaning back against the tree. It was typical for him to try and return to the positive, small things in life. "You are a really strange boy..." _And his is why I like him,_ she silently added

Kaworu had no idea how that was meant, as well.

* * *

_...Hikawa Temple, three days later (March 15th)..._

**-woooooouuunnnnnggggg- -wooooouuuuuuuuunnnnngggg-**

The sound of the big, gong-like bell echoed through the forested area in the hills bordering Tokyo-3. Two men, who were by some identifible as technicans from NERV, were swinging the big, hanging log against the bell to create the vibrations that echoed through the landscape.

It was a totally cloudless, sunny and warm day, perfect for this special occassion. The number of guests standing outside of the back side of the temple was significant. And while the head priest had been firm about his decision to not have any kind of big celebration on the immediate temple grounds, he had right afterwards allowed them to use the big meadow directly behind the temple, the former garden which had fallen into disuse. Everything there was built and ready for the reception party later.

Right now they waited, since the ceremony was a small circle affair and the bride and groom with their respective parties would enter the temple from the front and would leave after the ceremony though the backward gate to greet the guests. The guests themselves were an interesting mixture. Besides people from NERV, there were friends form college and people living in the city. The children however were, apart from a waiting Mana, missing, since they were needed for the ceremony itself.

Meanwhile in the front of the temple, the two parties slowly made their way to the entrance of the temple.

There had been serveral difficulties to overcome during the planning of the ceremony. One big problem was, that neither Misato nor Ryoji had any living relatives left after the impact. It was a problem since normally most of the people attending the ceremony were close relatives. Thankfully the priest had anticipated such problems, since many people had lost all family in the impact and decided that closer friends and confidants can take the place of family.

The men group, all of them wearing the traditional black kimonos, with Ryoji wearing the traditional haori overcoat extra, was quite interestingly mixed. First was of course the groom himself, then Kozo Fuyutsuki walked by his side. Behind them walked Shinji and Toji, the latter looking a little uncomfortable. And behind them were Kaldor Ikari and, surprising for everyone apart from Ryoji, Gendo.

While the two miko slowly led them towards the temple, the thoughts of the group couldn't be more different.

Ryoji was somewhat nervous and hoped that he wouldn't forget any detail of the ceremony. After having already done all the registration at the city hall at morning, the ceremony itself was technically speaking only a formality. However, that didn't help to calm his nerves, although he still looked calm on the outside.

Fuyutsuki meanwhile felt somewhat flattered that Ryoji had selected him as the special confidant who would walk beside him. The explanation for his selection, that Ryoji wanted someone who had walked that way himself and thus knew how he would feel, was a surprising admission that even Ryoji Kaji wasn't prepared for everything.

Toji still felt that the material of his kimono felt a little rough against his skin, while wondering how Hikari would look in hers, since he hadn't seen her since the morning.

Shinji thought the same about Rei, while at the same time still wondering what in all names had driven Mr. Kaji to select his father of all people to attend in this selected group. It wasn't that there was a lack of suitable men available for the task.

Kaldor felt the same about Gendo, while also being aware how much he stood out in the group. Being over two meters tall sometimes was a real disadvantage, making the group look somewhat odd.

Gendo was just relieved that Mr. Kaji had accepted him into the group. It had been a sudden decision to ask him when remembering that maybe showing Shinji that he still was a human being and not just someone who wanted to make the lives of others miserable would be helpful.

The group of woman advanced towards the temple as well, also led by two miko. Apart from Misato in her white shinto wedding gown, the woman wore black kimonos as well, albeit they had interesting floral patterns on the lower half. Beside the bride herself, Ritsuko walked right next to her. Behind them walked Rei and Maya, then followed by Asuka and Hikari. And like the men, they had very different things on their mind.

Misato of course was nervous as hell. While all the juristical stuff had been already done, she still feared that she would somehow make an error during the ceremony, despite them having gone through it numerous times. It also still felt alien for her to wear such heavy make-up on her face.

Ritsuko felt that it was proof on how much Misato trusted her, that she had been selected as her confidant to accompany her to the ceremony. Misato had told her that she especially needed someone who could stay calm and thus reassure her that everything would go all right.

Rei was closely inspecting Misato's wedding gown. Her imagination was busy with visualising herself in such a gown as a grown-up woman, standing beside an adult Shinji at their own wedding. She shook her head. It was still some years before that would become reality and she could enjoy this daydream later.

Asuka still felt that she as a westerner looked stupid in a kimono, especially after she'd learned that that she would be unable to wear a bra, since it would disturb the fabric. She also disliked what they'd done with her hair in the name of the ceremony.

Maya tried to not look too much at Ritsuko's rear. The kimono didn't leave much to her imagination and she had to scold herself several times that it right now wasn't the time for these thoughts.

Hikari was excited. After all it wasn't every day that she would be attending to the actual ceremony of a shinto wedding. Her whole family was waiting together with the other guests on the other side of the temple.

Finally two two groups met in front of the big main entrance and inspected each other with glances to the side, while waiting for the mikos to open the gate.

Ryoji was impressed with how different Misato looked, aside from wearing a white shinto wedding gown. Her long hair was put into a traditional hair style and her face was pained in traditional make-up. Misato had tried to argue that she was hardly a maiden that could be presented to the gods, but the priest had shot her down by saying that even then the whole thing simply wouldn't look right without it. That, and it was the gods who had to decide on the matter in the end.

Looking at the white watabōshi-hood Misato was wearing, Ryoji had to hide his smile. Misato had been very insistant to not wear the alternative headgear, the tsunokakushi, because of its meaning. Misato had insisted that neither was she jealous and selfish, nor did she plan to become a gentle and obedient wife, and thus couldn't wear that thing.

Shinji meanwhile couldn't help but to be impressed at how good Rei looked in a kimono. Her long, blue hair was put up into a traditional hairstyle and Shinji had to admit that combined with her naturally pale skin it made her look very dignified. At the same time he had a hard time to not laugh when seeing that Asuka's long, red hair had been bound into two long pigtails.

Misato at the same time was impressed at how mature Ryoji looked in his black montsuki wedding kimono and dark overcoat. Combined with a clean shave and his hair being brought under control, the causal onlooker would imagine him to be every stepmother's dream.

Finally the mikos had opened the gate, allowing both parties to enter the temple.

The light sound of the traditional flute music reached everyones ears, while they walked into the main chamber, where the altar was situated. The old priest, this time in the full ceremonial garb, was waiting behind the altar. To his side stood a young woman with long, black hair, wearing the white and red robes of a miko shrine maiden.

Hino-san's granddaughter Rei had been a big help in the preperations. Besides deciding to help personally, she had managed to use her connections to find the needed number of miko for the ceremony (after all there were none in Tokyo-3) and the traditional musicans needed. And now she would be there to assist her grandfather in the ceremony.

The woman walked the the left side of the room, to stand there in a row. The men did the same with the right side. The confidants stood the closest to the altar, so that they would be near the couple. And Misato and Ryoji slowly walked down between these two rows, until they had reached the altar, standing before it, while the mikos closed the gate behind them.

The music slowly ebbed away and the priest started the ritual of purification on the to-be-wed couple. After that was done it was followed by reporting to olds on the marriage. The priest finally ended it with the words "...may you grant your lasting favor on these two." He then looked to his granddaughter to initiate the next part of the ceremony, the San-San-Kudo, the ceremony of three-times-three-exchange of nuptial cups.

While watching the miko filling the six cups of three different sizes, they remembered how problematic this part of the ceremony had been in the planning stage. Normally, sake would be exchanged. However, they had to tactfully explain to the priest that Misato had an extreme allergic reaction to alcohol. The old Hino had sighed that this indeed was a problem. In the end they had decided on a non-alcoholic substitute, which at least looked like sake.

The faint flute music picked up again, while Ryoji and Misato picked up the first small cups. They brought their cup up to their partner's lips, and then they took a small sip from the offered cup. Per the ritual of San-San Kudo, they repeated that twice with the small cup and then set them down on the altar at the same time. They then repeated the process with the medium cup, once again taking three sips from the offered cup, and then placing the cups down. Finally, the ritual was repeated with the large cup, and they once more placed the cups on the altar exactly at the same moment to overcome the superstition that the person who set the cup down first would see their ancestors first.

The priest took the word and the music again fainted away. "Now that we have given our wish to the ancestors and the San-San Ku-Do is done, please the oaths of commitment."

Misato and Ryoji recieved each a parchment from his granddaughter. Normally as per tradition, only the groom would read an oath of commitment. However, since even traditional weddings were often modified these days, it was easy to insist that since both of them were bound to do their best in this marriage, they should both give an oath of their own.

Both of the were very nervous, while reading their respective oaths, Ryoji first, then Misato. Their oths were heartfelt, warm words and they managed to speak them without making any kind of embarrassing error on their part.

The old priest seemed pleased with how well things were going according to plan, judging by the small smile that crapt into his features. He gave a small sign to his granddaughter and she placed a small cushion with the wedding rings on the altar. "As taken over from the western faith, these rings shall be the visible sign of your bond. Always wear them with pride."

Slowly, Ryoji picked up Misato's ring and gently slid on onto her left ring finger, while saying the words that many before had already said. Misato then followed by doing the same for him. They then were handed sprigs of the sakaki tree by the miko and placed them on the altar as an offering to the kami. Then they bowed once, then again. Finally, they clapped their hands, one time, and then bowed once more.

The old priest smiled, becoming much less formal. "And now you are allowed to kiss the bride." And Ryoji gently (mostly to avoid smearing her make-up) did so, while everyone else applauded und the music again picked up, this time much more audiable and cheerful.

o

Everyone was waiting for the happy newlyweds to appear from the rear gate of the temple. Everyone else had already left it and mingled with the guests, talking about how beautiful the ceremony was. They knew it took so long because Misato was changing into something more comfortable and washing off the make-up.

Hikari was excitedly chatting with her parents. It had the result that Kodama sulked a little after her parents had asked her when they could finally see such a cermony with HER as the bride, a not too hidden jab at her choice of rotating lovers. Young Nozomi on the other hand told Toji bluntly that she hoped that when he and Hikari marry, it would be as beautiful, causing both teenagers to blush.

Asuka looked a little lost while being busy with undoing her pigtails, now that the ceremony was over and she wanted her hair to be back to natural. She also felt that this would be a rather boring celebration for her, since she had no one to share it with; and she thought of certain someone who she would've liked to be there right now.

Rei meanwhile was walking through the crowd, calmly looking for Shinji. Finally she spotted him, but he seemed to be distracted. Walking closer she saw what distracted him. He was watching the Commander being busy with talking so several guests who as far as she knew had no connection to NERV.

She could understand why Shinji found this highly unusual. She herself had also had over the years seen the man only being cold and distant. To see him interacting -or better trying to interact- with people in this manner was surely new.

"It is surely an unusual sight."

Only now that Rei stood beside him did he notice her. "Oh, Rei... Sorry, but seeing him acting like anyone else seems so surreal..."

"I myself have never seen the Commander act like what you expect from a normal person. This current behaviour is highly unusual for him," she commented it, while watching as well.

"I wonder what his game now is..." Shinji more said to himself than to Rei. It was very difficult for him to believe that his old man did what he did right now just because he wanted to.

Rei was unable to answer when everyone went silent, looking to the rear gate of the temple, where the newlyweds appeared to open the receiption. With the celebration beginning, Rei's thoughts about the situation concerning Shinji and his father took a backseat, especially when Shinji asked her for a dance.

* * *

_...three days later, basketball field..._

"Come on, come on, come on!... What? ...DAMN!"

"Easy! It is just a game," Kaldor told Toji, while picking up the basketball. After hearing yesterday from Toji how he could defeat everyone in basketball, Kaldor had challenged him to a two-against-one on the school's basketball court in the afternoon. They'd felt it also was a good way to temporarily escape the stress of preparing for the exams.

At first Toji had been confident that he could easily defeat the two of them, since Shinji was only a mediocre player and he'd written off Kaldor as an 'old man'. After some minutes however it had become painfully clear that said 'old man' was in a really good shape and obviously played basketball regularly. In the end they had creamed him while Hikari had watched the whole thing from the sidelines.

"Easy for you to say!" Toji panted. "You don't have your girlfriend watching you being humiliated."

"Said girlfriend thinks that this can be only good for you," Hikari called while walking onto the field, seeing that the game now was obviously over. "After hearing you bragging about your skill recently, I feel that a little humility to get you back to Earth can only be of advantage."

"Uhm...." Toji had no idea what to say.

"Boy, I think the right answer is 'yes, dear'. I was once married and learned that you should never openly disagree with the woman," Kaldor advised him half-jokingly.

Toji tried to ignore the mental image of himself and Hikari in their thirties, him sitting in a push seat, reading a paper while automatically agreeing with Hikari's suggestions on how to re-decorate the house. He told himself that should they marry one day, he would do everything that their life would not turn into such a martial purgatory.

Toji had no desire to speak any further about him getting humility, so he changed the topic. "Hm, yeah... While we are speaking of girls, I sort of missed Rei. Hey, Shinji! Any idea where she is? Thought she would've liked watching you."

It was such a painfully obvious distraction. And because of that, it worked. Shinji looked rather uncomfortable. "Rei and I decided to not spend the afternoon together.... Uhm, you noticed that she is quite cranky since yesterday?"

"Yeah, so what? Did you two argue? Did she give you a spanking or somthing like that?" Toji wondered, totally missing Shinji's silent plea to drop the topic.

"Toji, there is a good reason why we both agreed that Rei isn't in the mood for my company right now. It's a girl thing," Shinji tried to explain. Gods, he really didn't want to speak about that while in the company of others.

"Girl thing?" Toji wondered, still oblivious to the meaning of the words.

Shinji wondered how Toji could be so oblivious of such things, before he remembered that his mother was dead and his sister too young to yet have such problems. But that he had never noticed that, despite having a steady girlfriend... It sometimes became painfully obvious that his friend wasn't the most observant person.

Thankfully, Hikari came to his rescue. "-Sigh- Toji, what Shinji tried to tactfully tell you is, that Rei has her period and right now is not in the mood for male company." Seeing Toji's eyes widen, she added "The first one is unpleasant for all girls, so I can't blame her."

Toji tried to ignore all the pictures that these news about his friend's girlfriend conjured in his head. "...I think I prefer ignorance in that case..."

Hikari shook her head, Toji could sometimes be so ignorant...

Shinji was just glad that this was done. He felt really uncomfortable with such things being the topic, especially when it concerned Rei. Personally he had been relieved that Rei acted nothing like that overblown caricature of menstruating girls that circulated in the media. She was somewhat annoyed and uneasy, nothing more. She'd tactfully asked him to hold his distance until it was over, while at the same time complaining that she hadn't thought it would be that uncomfortable.

It was good that Rei was such a calm girl. He would pity the poor guy who'd eventually become Asuka's boyfriend in the future, whoever it would be. After all, Asuka sometimes tended to become rather foul mooded during that time of the month.

_Pen Pen learned the hard way to not annoy her during that time of the month. He'd needed almost a week to recover from the bruise... _Shinji remembered one especially memorable incident.

Kaldor watched the friendly banter between the three friends. It made him proud to see Shinji acting like a nomal teenager, interacting with friends. It again reminded him that despite several setbacks, including the one done by his (swearword) of a father several months ago, he'd done the best he could to turn him from a devastated child in the confident young man he now was.

He then remembered what he and Yui had talked about the day before the wedding. Yui had told him of Gendo's trouble concerning his attempts to mend the rift between them, and how Shinji essentially sabotaged every attempt by seeing him, Kaldor, as his true father. However, he'd asked her what she expected him to do. After all, he could't force the boy to accept someone he despised. Not that he didn't understand them problem, but his sympathy for Gendo was very limited.

He'd added that they couldn't make that decision for Shinji and that he personally thought it would take some really selfless thing from Gendo, to regain his son's respect. And it was unlikely that something like that would happen. Kaldor only still wondered, why Yui wanted to give that bastard a second chance.

He also had to think about Gendo's appearance as on of the people present at the wedding some days ago. That had come as a total surprise at him, as well as that the man had behaved himself and even tried to socialise with people during the celebration (only people who didn't know him as his boss), albeit it was somewhat clumsy. He had no idea what Gendo expected to achive with that.

He was still in thoughts, while following the leaving teenagers.

* * *

_...at the same time..._

Rei slightly grimaced, while walking down the street. While it was far less bad than many of the girls in school made it sound like, it was still annoying enough. It made her wonder why Dr. Akagi had declared such woman cowards, if escaping this unpleasantness seemed the most logical solution. Too bad that she'd little choice in the matter.

The cramps alone were annoying enough. In a way it felt like a bad stomach ache, only located much lower. Also that damn pad she'd to wear in her panties in order to prevent a mess was uncomfortable. However, the most annoying thing was how it unbalanced her hormone levels, affecting her mood.

She'd noticed everyone keeping their distance, as if they were able to detect her somewhat negative mood, despite her trying to act as normal as possible. She'd almost snapped at Shinji when he'd asked her if she is alright. After that scene, she'd tactfully explained her problem and asked him to give her more space than normal and hold his distance, until this was over. Thankfully he was very understanding and respected her wish.

_If this is the price to pay for being able to create new life, I am willing to accept it,_ Rei thought when remembering her dreams of becoming a mother.

These dreams came more frequently now, and ervery time was wonderful and she'd awaken with a feeling of fulfillment. She knew it would be years before both of them would be old enough to actually fulfill this dream, but she had patience.

She felt another cramp. Thank all goodness that no tests were scheduled until next week, or she would certainly mess up, as her concentration right now was not a given.

Walking around a corner, she saw two people sitting at an outdoor table of a ramen restaurant. Although she couldn't see their faces since they both faced away from her, she knew only of one girl with long, red hair in Tokyo-3. However, the boy with white hair was a little unusual. They had not noticed her and curiosity got the better of her, so she silently approached and heared them talking.

"...so who do these Angel think they are, just waltzing in and trying to kill us all?" Asuka right then ended her rant.

"While I can not speak of personal experience, I find the Angels rather perplexing. Have you ever wondered what they hope to accomplish with their attacks?" the boy wondered.

"Who cares? I only want them gone," Asuka returned, before loudly slurping some noodles.

"I have to admit, this is not an unreasonable wish, after considering the up to now caused destruction," the boy admitted, before turning his attention to his own noodles.

Rei couldn't help but to feel strangely uneasy in this boy's presence. She had no idea if that was caused by her unbalanced hormones. Simply put, something about him rubbed her the wrong way. She also found it somewhat strange that Soryu hadn't told them about seeing someone. However, it did explain her recent absence from their group, if she was being with this boy in her free time.

_I think it is better to not announce my presence... _turning around, she left, never knowing that the boy in question had been very well aware of her presence.

_She is very different from what she once had been... Very interesting. Though I must be careful to hide my presence better, when she is near. I could literally feal her uneasiness...

* * *

_

_...at night, some days later..._

_She was sitting on a roof, looking totally devastated. And she screamed that she hated everyone._

_-flash-_

_She had lost her will to live. Lying naked in the bathtub of a wrecked house, she only waited for the relief to come from this final act, while her blood very slowly filled the tub._

_-flash-_

_The white beasts were all over her and she barely had time to scream, before they ripped her to pieces, feasting on her._

_-flash-_

_Shinji choked her to death under a red sky, madness in his eyes..._

"Ahhh!" Eyes wide open, Askua felt her stomach revolting. Jumping out of her bed, she dashed to the toilet, throwing up into it.

Coughing and spitting, she tried to calm down. Finally the remains of dinner had all parted with her. Slowly getting up, she walked over to the sink to wash out her mouth, when she noticed Mistao, thankfully wearing a night gown (not that this thin thing covered much), standing in the door.

"Asuka? Everything all right?" she asked sleepily, looking as if ready to sleep while standing.

"-gargle...spit- Bad dream...no need to worry...-gargle-" Asuka assured her guardian between her attempts to get rid of the disgusting taste. Misato felt that this was explanation enough, and left her alone.

Asuka looked into the mirror. _What kind of bizarro stuff was that? _she wondered.

Little did she know that some kilometers away, Tabris stood on the balcony of his apartment clad only in his boxers, looking into the direction of Misato's apartment building. He always found it fascinating what pictures his Lilum body conjured during into sleep phases. However, tonight had been so intense that it had woken him up.

He had no idea what exactly had happened, but the pictures had been a sort of temporal fragment impacting into Asuka's dreams and he'd witnessed them. They were only disconnected scenes, but their content had made him surpisingly distressed. Scenes of suffering and death.

Looking up to the crescent waning moon, his conflicting emotions finally became clear to him. While he wanted to free his father Adam, he had started to feel comfortable on this world. Part of him actually didn't want to leave it any longer.

The inner conflict left him wondering, how this could have happened to him so fast.

_**to be continued...**_

_**Next Episode:**_

_**"In our Midst"**_


	37. In our Midst

I will say these things in advance: I have absolutely no rights to NGE, but you should have already known that.

The story itself is basically a re-telling of the original storyline, but twisted into my way. While at the beginning there seem to be only few deviances, it will become more with each episode. The people, their motivations and the backgrounds are, while holding true to the basic layout, changed at my imagination in many details, so canon-purists now are allowed to flame me.

NOTE: I hate both, the ending of the TV series, and how End of Evangelion turned out. So don't expect either of those outcomes.

This is Shinji/Rei. It's not much longer now, before things was start to get real ugly. **Note that there is a lemon scene that can be read at adultfanfiction net.**

After you've read the chapter, **please Review!** Please tell me your opinion. I promise to answer every review I get.

* * *

**Chapter 36: In our Midst**

The corridors of the Tokyo-3 middle school were full with students. The high school exams had been some days ago, and now finally the results were made public on huge scoreboards that hung beside the classroom in question. After all the stress of the recent weeks, most students looked indifferent, some looked a little disappointed, some looked horrified and some beamed with joy over their result.

All in all a pretty normal scene that had happened so many times in the past and would propably happen for many more times in the future.

The pilots and their friends had met at the scoreboard of their class. Some of the scores were no surprise. Rei was the top student of the class, closely followed by Asuka and Kensuke. Shinji let out a breath that his score was good enough that his mother wouldn't be disappointed in him -after all she took his education quite serious. And while Mana and Hikari were pleased enough with their scores, Toji winced when seeing his. While it was enough to enter high school, the score wasn't that great, which surely would get him a scolding from his father.

_Ahhh, man! All this learning and now this... _Toji silently groaned. Looking to his side, he had to swallow hard. Judging by the looks which Hikari gave him when seeing his score, she seemed somewhat disappointed. He had had no idea that this look could make him so uneasy.

"I still find it a little strange that you, the saviors of mankind, still have to worry about getting a good score in school," Mana wondered aloud, while the whole group slowly walked down the corridor to leave the school.

"It's not that strange..." Shinji remarked. "Being the hero might be a good thing, but you surely can't get a regular income out of it. After all our job is almost done and we need something to fall back on for the rest of our lives... Though it might be different for you, if you continue to work for the military."

"No, don't think I can do this forever..." Mana shook her head. "I guess I'll go to university. I always wanted to become a teacher. What about all of you? Already any plans?"

"Nothing definitive, but I never want to become a salary-slave. After seeing these salarymen, I want to become my own man, standing on my own feet. I just don't yet know what it will look like..." Shinji said, shuddering at his memory of seeing the uniform masses of salarymen. He associated it with little income, little free time, stress and ending in karōshi.

"I never thought about it, my plans for the future did not go that far," Rei admitted, although she could not imagine herself following the orders of others forever. The thought was... revolting to her. Shinji's idea of standing on own feet was tempting.

"No idea... It's hard to decide while it is still years away," Asuka said. Although she didn't notice it, she sounded as if being somewhere else with her thoughts. The others noticed it, but said nothing. After all, Asuka acted strange for some time now.

Toji shugged. "My dad wants me to have a high school degree. I'm not stupid, but I think I'm a better at sports than at thinking. Also I can't imagine myself sitting behind a desk for hours to come.... Nah, sports it is after high school."

"And don't think I'll leave you out of my sight...." Hikari needled, before adding "As for me, I plan to go to college to get a business degree. After all someone has to help him keeping his money together..." Toji blushed a little after hearing her playing at his weakness in math.

Kensuke was the last to answer. Only after everyone looked to him did he notice. "What...oh, sorry. Guess since I was always big with computers, learning programming at the college sounds good..."

No one took offense at his absent-mindedness. After all, the most important thing on his mind was Mayumi. He cared a lot for her and and had decided that since she couldn't leave the geofront, he wouldn't be at the festivities next day, where the students would celebrate their finishing of middle school.

Outside of the school grounds, the group splintered fast, leaving in all directions. Mana went back to her base, Toji and Hikari planned to visit the arcade center and Asuka left for somewhere into the city. Strangely enough, Kensuke stayed with Shinji and Rei, looking as if he had something very important to ask them. Finally, Rei, decided to be the one to break this limbo.

"Is there something you require from us, Kensuke?" she asked him.

Kensuke was used to Rei being a little blunt with her questions, so he wasn't offended. "Uhm...yeah. You guys have a really good girl-boy relationship... and I.... Damn, I need some advice!"

"I guess that it concerns Mayumi?" Shinji asked. Seeing Kensuke nod, he led him towards the railing that seperated the road from the slope that below ended in the next level of the city. All three of them leaned on it, then Shinji asked again. "Is something wrong between you two?"

"Hell, no!" Kensuke then shook his head. "Sorry. Everything is actually great between us... But she's depressed that she can't be there at the big dance tomorrow. Sure, I'll be with her down there tomorrow, but she'll still feel disappointed. It's not the same... And to make it worse, I have no idea how to cheer her up."

"And you hope that we can give you advice for this problem?" Rei asked. "That could prove problematic, since the only times when I got depressed, Shinji and I were already in the current stage of our relationship."

Shinji rolled his eyes. Only Rei could manage to find such a description for the fact, that -besides giving good and encouraging words- it usually meant having fulfilling sex. _Nah, not sex... lovemaking. After all we try to statisfy each others needs in the best possible ways..._

Obviously Kensuke understood the meaning as well, since he looked rather strange at him for a moment, as if wondering: 'Just how far have you two taken it?'.

_On the other hand, I don't even want to know... _While he might have been interested in such stuff in the past, he no longer did so now. Being close to a girl he actually liked he pretty much cured him from his hentai-streak.

Kensuke hoped that these two had some other ideas besides _that_.

* * *

_...later that day..._

Asuka couldn't help but to laugh, when Kaworu flew off that mechanical Ride-the-Bull, landing on the mat. She had spied it during their stroll through the city and commented that it looked really difficult to be on it for more than twenty seconds. She knew that it had worked, when Kaworu had said he'd try it. He held held up well, but after 15 seconds it was the end of the line for him.

"It seems that I misjudged the difficulty..." Kaworu mostly said to himself, while Asuka helped him up.

"Oh, I think you held up quite well... for someone who hadn't used one of these before." She couldn't help but to congratulate herself that just mentioning the difficulty had made Kaworu try to prove himself to her.

While they again walked down the sidewalk, Asuka's thoughts circled around him. She'd been unsure when he's asked her some time ago in the park. But now that she'd been together with him for a longer time, her feelings became clearer to herself. While at first she'd had no idea where she stood with him, time had helped her to come to terms with what she felt: she actually cared for him in a special way.

Most of it she contributed to his calm personality. Even some words from him were already enough for her to forget any kind of anger she'd felt before. He had a literally disarming personality. Also his positive outlook on life was something rare in these days, he was very polite and never put himself first. To make it short, he was someone you couldn't help but to like. And Asuka now knew that he was exactly what she longed for.

Problem now only was to tell him that. After all, she wasn't very good with words and she doubted she could find the right ones for this.

Her thoughts were halted when Kaworu held on her arm, making her stop in her tracks. "It can see that something is bothering you. Perhaps you can share it with me to lessen the burden?"

_Oh verdammt... _(Oh dear...) She had had no idea that he would notice and ask about it! Fumbling with her words, she tried to put together an answer. "Look...I...umh... I...I start to really like you..." She saw only a blank look on his face. He didn't get it. "Look, I start to like you THAT way!" He obviously still didn't get it and Asuka started to become frustrated. "Verdammt! I start to see you as a boyfriend!"

Finally Kaworu got it. "R-really...?" He had no idea why he reacted so positive to it. After all, it would now only mean that he definitely would break her heart by leaving her when the time would come to fulfill his destiny. All of a sudden he had difficulties to keep his cool, and he had no idea why that was.

Asuka took his reaction as a good sign and decided to ask now, before she would lose her nerves. "Will you accompany me to the school dance tomorrow? I really want to introduce you to the others."

Everything inside him screamed that he would get so deep into it, that it would hurt her even more, but he only managed to stammer a "Of-course I will.", much to Asuka's delight.

They didn't notice two people walking down the sidewalk on the other side of the road.

"Really, Misato, I know you like some of this kinky stuff, but I'd have never thought you'd buy a leather corset..." Ryoji commented, while they walked home after visiting the 'special shop'. "You know, I'm not the kind of man who likes to be the submissive."

Misato, the plain box secured under her arm, sighed. "Look, I haven't bought it for that. I'm not in that stuff. I just think of it as a tool to enrich the experience for myself, just as the ball-gag is there to stop me from accidently waking up everyone with my screaming."

"Yeah... as long as you don't buy a riding crop next." He then noticed a redhead on the other side of the road, which could mean only one person. But when he saw made him stop. "Misato, look. Seems that Asuka kept a secret from us."

"Hm...?" Misato stopped when she saw Asuka holding the hands of a almost unnaturally handsome boy. Misato's eyes narrowed when she took a closer look at him. Something seemed off about him. She couldn't pinpoint it, but her gut feeling told her that he looked suspiciously much like Rei. "Ryoji, doesn't he remind you of someone?"

"Uhm, no?" He looked closer. "Wait... Either this is a fantastic coincidence....or something is fishy."

"We should better call Ritsuko as soon as we are home... It's only a feeling, but having an albino boy getting close to Asuka... I don't like it.... Come, before they see us." She and Ryoji quickly left, vanishing in the crowd of predestians.

They had no idea that Kaworu had sensed their eyes on him.

* * *

_...next day, early evening..._

The sky had already started to darken, while the big hall of the Tokyo-3 middle school filled with the students who had passed the exams and their dates. Everything was set for a very nice celebration with music, dancing and a nice buffet. The atmosphere was very relaxed.

Shinji couldn't help but to be excited. Both, he and Rei, were wearing evening wear for this occassion. His suit was comfortable enough. Also he couldn't get enough of Rei in that cute black dress which Hikari had helped her to chose. Making their way though the crowd, they searched for their friends.

"Hey, Shin-man! Over here!"

That clearly was Toji. After getting past some students they found Mana, Toji and Hikari waiting for them. Toji seemed uncomfortable in his grey suit, after all he was used to wearing comfortable clothing. Hikari's dress was a contrast to Rei's, being bright yellow. Mana's dress was a nice shade of light blue. They didn't see Asuka in the group.

"Seen Asuka? She left before us and I thought she'd be with you guys..." Shinji asked after walking to them.

"We haven't seen her here at all since we arrived. Strange, she did look excited when I met her this afternoon... To be honest, it was quite a surprise to see her so happy..." Hikari didn't say it, but she had a suspiction that Asuka was late because of the boy she and Mana had seen her with some time ago.

"Perhaps it has something to do with..." Rei tried to trow in, but was interrupted, when suddenly...

"Sorry that I'm late!"

They all recognised Asuka's voice. She sounded real happy for some reason, a mood in which she wasn't seen often. And when she approached, wearing a fire-red dress, they noticed the teenage boy holding her hand. It didn't come as a surprise to Mana, Hikari and Rei, who had seen him before. However, Shinji and Toji were really surprised to see her with a date, especially someone they'd never seen before.

The boy in question tried to look cool and collected, but failed miserably at it. They could easily see, that he was the kind of person who always tried to be in control and who was very uneasy in situations in which he had no experience in. He also looked uncomfortable with the black suit he was wearing, acting as if it was three numbers too small, despite it fitting perfectly.

"Woah... He's your date for tonight?" Toji asked, only to be silenced by a dirty look from Hikari for being so rude.

Asuka didn't seem to mind. "No, even better! Everyone, may I introduce Kaworu Nagisa.... My boyfriend!" She proudly announced to them. She obviously was very happy right at the moment.

"I'm very pleased to meet Asuka's friends. She told me a lot about you," Kaworu greeted them, bowing slightly to show his respect. Everyone returned the greeting politely. They didn't notice Rei looking strange to Kaworu, raising her guard as if expecting something.

Finally Hikari couldn't hold it in any longer. "I knew it! I and Mana saw you two talking several weeks ago! I want details..."

"Nothing of that sort happened! Mein Gott, Hikari! I swear, sometimes you can be a real pervert..." Asuka complained. She'd seen it several times; Hikari trying to wring out other girls about their sex lives. She felt it was somewhat schizophrenic for the normally proper and and a little prudish Hikari to act like that.

Hikari wanted to inject that she wasn't a pervert -she really thought that- when everyone went silent. Looking to the stage, they saw the principal walking to the microphone for his speech. That meant all speaking was postponed until he was done and the celebration officially started.

o

So far it was a very pleasant evening. After the boring speech from the principal, the celebration had kicked into high gear. Right at the moment a majority of the guests were enjoying some classical music, the pairs feeling that the slow dance really helped to relax and get into the spirit.

Shinji knew that Rei enjoyed dancing very much, but she seemed a little distracted at the moment. "Rei, is something wrong?" he carefully asked, while holding her closer.

Rei shook herself out of her thoughts. She wasn't used to being so distracted, but the feeling hadn't left her during the evening. "It is Nagisa... His presence makes me feel uncomfortable," she finally admitted to Shinji.

Shinji looked to the dancing Asuka and Kaworu, wondering why Rei would think so. Sure, he looked a little strange, but that couldn't be the reason. "I don't know... He seems nice enough. Sure, a little strange, but nice."

Rei shook her head. "I can not pinpoint it. It is just that being close to him gives me an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach..."

Shinji had no idea why Rei would react like this, but let it slide. After all, she did have some quirks in her biology. Slowly moving further away with her, he noticed her features relaxing with each meter. It seemed that being physically farther away eased her uneasy feelings. After all, this was a night they wanted to enjoy.

A little further away, Hikari was impressed at how good Toji was at not making any missteps.

She was so impressed that she asked him how he did that with never having danced before. His answer was, to say the least, very interesting. "It's my basketball practice. Doing so much sports just gives me a good foot coordination."

"Impressive... Hm, look, Asuka seems to be really happy."

Looking to his left, Toji saw Asuka smiling, while guing Kaworu through the dancing motions, noticing that he made numerous missteps. "Yeah... That can only be a good thing. I know you're her friend, but you still have to admit that far better than her bitching around."

Hikari looked annoyed at his choice of words, but then decided to ignore it for tonight. After all, they were here to enjoy this night and she had no idea when she would be out with Toji to a dance the next time. Looking to her right, she caught Mana fliring with some guy she didn't know, feeling relieved that Mana, despite not having a date for the night, seemed to enjoy herself.

At the same time, Asuka again had to correct another misstep from Kaworu.

"I can tell that you've never danced before. I won't hold it against you. After all, even I had to learn it," she patiently told him, while at the same time enjoying his closeness.

Kaworu had to admit that he actually enjoyed this activity a lot. It was bewildering. He, a being billions of years old, enjoyed something as simple as pre-decided movement. It again made him think. In his time on Earth, the Lilim had shown to be much more happy than his siblings had every been. Despite their limited existence, most of them were fulfilled. Maybe it was because of their limited time, they strived to fill it with things they enjoy?

"I do learn fast. After all, I do not any long step on your feet," Kaworu replied with a smile, while starting to memorize every movement, so that he wouldn't do any more mistakes.

_Gott, das ist ein Lächeln, das man nur lieben kann..._ (God, that a smile you can only love...) Asuka thought, ignoring the voice at the back of her mind scolding her for thinking such sappy stuff. "Yes.... I was really lucky to meet you. It's almost as if you'd waited just for me."

"Maybe I did..." Inside however, he felt very bad by now. After all, a horrible heartbreak was now inenvetible as soon as he would go to fulfill his destiny.

o

It was very quiet in the geofront at the same time, the nighttime casting the surroundings in a soft darkness. However, the darkness was pierced at on spot between the trees and near the lake by a fire.

Kensuke at first had thought his idea to be stupid, but the more he had thought about it, the more he'd felt that Mayumi would propably like it. And judging by how relaxed she looked, it must have worked. He'd no idea of romantic things, besides what he'd read on the net about the topic. Thankfully it had all worked out.

It actually had been genius. Compensating Mayumi for her missed dance by giving the two of them a special evening. Sitting here in these peaceful surroundings near the warming fire, enjoying special treats fresh out of an ice box. Having their own, private dance around the fire with music from his portable CD-player and generally just enjoying each other's company.

Right now they were sitting near the fire, looking over the silent lake, Mayumi leaning on him with her eyes closed. She'd enjoyed this private evening very much. And he felt more relaxed than he'd ever been. It felt so right.

Mayumi felt the same. She would have never thought that Kensuke had such a romantic bone... After all both of them were socially awkwand people who had little idea of such things. However, that didn't mean she couldn't recognise something she liked. She felt more than compensated for the missed school dance. This private evening had proven to be so much better.

_Is this how it feels to be attracted to someone?_ she wondered, while leaning closer to him, feeling him put his arm around her shoulders. "Hmmm, you're the nicest boy I've ever met... You are so much more than you think you are."

"Oh...he he..." Damn, how should he react to being complimented like this. In the end he decided to say nothing, otherwise he would make a fool of himself, and simply hold her closer. That was their evening.

* * *

_...later at the evening..._

It had been a very nice evening, apart from Rei's temporal uneasiness. Right now, Shinji was escorting Rei back into the apartment complex. They stopped in front of Misato's apartment and felt they were in the mood an extended goodnight-kiss... A very deeeep kiss. With their bodies pressed against each other, they already felt the urge to make that a little more than just kissing.

However, before they could make a decision, the door opened and Ryoji looked out. "Oh, I had no idea that I was interrupting you two at such important business..." he said with a smirk, while watching the two teenagers hastily seperating, blushing heavily.

"We, uhm..." Shinji knew that his sexual activities with Rei were no secret, but it still was embarrassing to be caught in the act. Rei said nothing, but her head by now being as red as a tomato spoke volumes about how she was feeling.

"Oh, don't be shy on my account!" he laughed, before looking around. "Is Asuka not with you?"

"No, she isn't..." Shinji said, wondering if he really should tell him.

It was that moment that Rei decided that there should be someone to share her embarrassment, so she said calmly (or at least tried to) "Soryu is still away with her boyfriend."

As if the word had magic power, Misato appeared in the door almost instantly, looking very interested. "Come in, you two! I have to hear THAT!" It seemed that Misato didn't take it too well that Asuka had managed to get a boyfriend without her knowing. It was a pride thing that Misato was always informed about her charges' lives. They couldn't know that this was because of what she's seen the previous day.

Finally sitting down at the kitchen table, Misato wasted no time. "Ok, who is this mystery boyfriend of Asuka's and what does he look like?"

Shinji give Rei a look that said as much as _'Sometimes you have too big of a mouth'_ before deciding that it would be better to say the truth, since Misato right now had a very low bullshit tolerance. "His name is Kaworu Nagisa... As for what he looks like... Guess a lot like Rei."

"Explain." It seemed to them that Misato took these news especially bad, and they didn't know, why.

"Nagisa has same pale skin and red eyes as me, but his hair is pure white. It looks like a natural case of albinism," Rei explained. She then thought for a moment, before she added "Also I feel uneasy around him... I do not like his presence."

Everyone knew that it was very unusual for Rei to openly state that she disliked someone, so it meant a lot that she already disliked him after meeting him for the first time. Rei looked uneasy with the topic, so they decided to not press any further.

Misato leaned back with a sigh of defeat, while Ryoji shook his head. "It's not that we can tell Asuka who to have as a boyfriend. However, she should've told us..." He thought for a moment. "Should be interesting when we ask her about him."

"No..." Misato finally said. "She'll only become stubborn and don't tell us a thing if we try to get the story from her." After all, she'd witnessed enough times that Asuka didn't like people snooping around in her private business.

Seeing that they weren't any longer needed, Shinji and Rei stood up. However, before they could even make a move towards the door, Misato's voice stopped them in their tracks. "Don't even think about it. While it's none of my concern what you two do in the bedroom, you do have a test scheduled. Do you want to tell Ritsuko you were late because you overslept after being too busy during the night?"

Both teenagers knew what she meant. Dr. Akagi could be very mean if someone felt like ignoring her timetables. She had her ways of conveying her displeasure without causing actual harm, which didn't make it any less unpleasant. So they decided to better get some real sleep and parted ways. Misato and Ryoji waited until Rei was gone and Shinji's bedroom door closed, before they talked.

"Remember what Ritsu told us after we decribed him to her? I don't like this at all..." Misato whispered, so that Shinji couldn't hear it. "This Nagisa smells of something wrong."

Ryoji nodded. "Yeah...First thing we should do tomorow is to get a background check." His agent instincts told him, that even though he only knew few facts, something seemed wrong.

* * *

_...the next day, office of the Commander..._

"I still find it interesting how a change in decoration can make this place so much more appealing," Fuyutsuki commented, while moving his pieces on the Go board. "It no longer feels like a tomb and more like a place were someone spends a lot of time."

"I know. I heard that several times already from different people," Gendo absently answered, while concentrating on his next move.

Fuyutsuki had to admit that Yui's influence on Gendo was quite noticable. Some months ago, he would have written off the idea as ridiculous, that Gendo Ikari could change his life. Now he had to admit that he had been wrong in an aspect of Gendo's personality. While he had a strong character, his one character flaw was, that someone emotionally stronger than him could easily influence him. Therefore his need to be alway at the top of the food chain. He thanked all gods that it actually was Yui who was influencing him. Unlike other people, her intentions were of good nature and aimed at making Gendo a better person instead of dominating him.

"Have you spoke with your wife recently?" he asked, while studying the move that Gendo had made.

"Yes, I did. She says that while I do make progress, she is worried that our son has gotten too used at disliking me and avoids all change. Not that I can fault him for his decision," he admitted openly.

_That's a change, ideed. Accepting the reponsibility for your deeds... _Fuyutsuki thought. "Speaking of him. Yui told me that she was very pleased at his grades, saying that she is proud how easily he has entered high school."

A small smile appeared on Gendo's features. "Both his parents are scientists... He only needs the right motivation to get good grades." He would never reveal that he'd read through the grades himself. "Yui has hopes for him to go into science as well."

Moving his pieces on the board, Fuyutsuki shook his head. "While she is a good mother, she doesn't understand everything about young Shinji. The boy shows no interest in scientific theory, even I noticed that. He strives for a work that fulfills him and has a sizable physical part."

"I for my part won't stop him. My parents wanted me to become a salaryman and tried to sabotage my effords to go to university... Even now they don't speak with me..." Not that he was unhappy about that. Yui had made it clear after only one meeting, that she couldn't stand his parents, and he agreed fully. They'd objected his choice for a wife right from the start, resulting in them not attending the wedding and cutting all contact.

Fuyutsuki raised an eyebrow but said nothing. That was the first time he heard that story. Then he siddenly noticed that Gendo had won the game with his last move. While a cleared the board, he said "All this waiting starts to slowly get to everyone. It is most unfortunate that the scrolls say next to nothing about the 17th and last Angel, apart from the fact, that he'll appear and is called 'the last messenger'... The old men are strangely silent as well, and then there are the Evangelion parts and new dummy plugs."

"Yes. The old men are clearly planning something big, and it involves these components. However, we are bound to do nothing until the last Agel has been destroyed. Whenever this will be..." Gendo knew that SEELE had big plans, but he had no idea how they planned to actually do it. Evangelions and dummy plugs were concerning, but it only was good for attacking them.

They were missing one vital part... How did SEELE actually plan to initiate the Human Instrumentality Project without either Adam or the Lance of Longinus?

It was this question that more and more bothered him.

* * *

_...Rei's apartment, two days later..._

"Really, Rei.... I don't know..." Shinji tried to convince her that it wasn't a good idea.

Right at the moment they both sat on Rei's bed, dressed in nothing but their birthday suits, skin still sweaty from their slow and sensual lovemaking earlier that night. Rei always took great delight in him touching and carressing all her sweet spots, with her returning the favor. However, what she now asked of him after they'd recovered made him uneasy.

"Please, Shinji. After being intimate for so long, I feel ready for it," Rei returned, giving him puppy-eyes in the hope it would make it easier to convince him.

Shinji took a deep breath. "Rei, you remember our first time and how I afterwards told you, that you were really bold to do that thing, and that I only did it in return to not disappoint you?"

A slight blush covered Rei's cheeks. "Yes... I know... I was so curious and didn't know I made you uncomfortable..." she admitted. Shinji had explained to her that normally, pairs wouldn't touch it at the first time. After his explanations, she'd kept away from that orifice until now. "Nonetheless I feel that I finally want to explore it."

"Rei, why do you want to try that? I mean... it must be uncomfortable... and I think it is dirty as well." Shinji made it clear that he was unsure of the idea.

"Please try to be a little more open minded, Shinji," she said, while holding his hand. "I read that it can be quite enjoyable for both of us... As for it being dirty, I made sure to empty and thoroughly cleaned the inside with water."

Shinji knew that he was fighting a losing battle. After all, once Rei wanted something she'd get it. And to be honest, he hadn't much left to say against it, it was mostly his uneasiness with entering her there. A part of him felt that it was wrong to do that. However, another part wondered if it actually could be as good as Rei had read.

"-sigh- All right, I'll give it a try, Rei." Then he remembered something. "Wait! Won't it hurt because you are dry in there? After all, there's no natural lubrication."

Rei only gave him a smile and left for a moment to fetch something from the kitchen. When she returned, she handed him a big jar that felt cold to the touch. Shinji read the label and blushed. "'Slurp Super-Lube'? Rei, please don't tell me you managed to buy this from a sex shop."

"Of course I didn't. They do not let in minors. The Major was nice enough to give me one of hers," Rei calmly explained to him.

Shinji's blush intensified. "You got that from Misato?... No, wait! I don't even want to know." The last thing he wanted to know right now where things about the sex life of his guardian. Knowing that Rei really he thought of everything, he accepted that he would enter that final frontier.

* * *

_...however, at the same time..._

No one was aware of a meeting that would change everything and end the status quo.

The council of SEELE had gathered in their holographic room. They all were gathered because of a development of uttermost urgency that SEELE 04, responsible for the EVA-series, had to report."I have good news. The problems we had with the last two units are fixed. All units are at 100 percent. Everything is ready from our side."

"Very good..." Keel sounded pleased. "How long will it take for our forces to get ready for our strike against Tokyo-3 to prepare for the creation of the Tree of Life?" he asked SEELE 03, who was in charge of their strike forces.

"Five days for the maximum strength," SEELE 03 reported.

Keel then adressed SEELE 05. "Will our computer systems be ready for Plan 'N' in time?"

"Yes. The virus is developed and our computer systems will do a surprise attack on the secret line. When they manage to cut it, it will be already too late and should cripple the defensive systems of the city. There is no way they can manage to shut off the MAGI once the program is active," SEELE 05 reported.

"Good, then tomorrow we will tell Tabris to proceed. He will then meet his true fate," Keel concluded.

"If I may, I have discovered something interesting," SEELE 12 interrupted him. "It came to the attention to my spies that information about the delivery of the components for our dummy systems had leaked. We managed to find out that Mr. Kaji has been gathering information for some time now."

"If that really is the case we have to assume that he has betrayed us and works for Ikari," SEELE 09 added.

"In this case we have to see it as a given that they know that we plan something... Although it won't matter a lot, since the end is now only days away," Keel concluded. "Any kind of treachery from the side of NERV won't stop the inenvitable now."

"There is more. My people have reported Mr. Kaji and his wife the Major being in Tokyo-2 right now, unaware that they are being shadowed. With your permission, I can let them vanish at once, while they don't expect an attack," SEELE 12 further reported.

"Yes..." Keel's voice was approving. "They have outlived their usefulness..."

* * *

_...A Kabuki theatre in Tokyo-2..._

It was nighttime in Tokyo-2, what however didn't mean that the city was asleep. It was one of these cities that never slept. Right now in a Kabuki-theatre, the last act of the main show had finished, with the actors bowing collectively to the audience. Applause thundered through the big hall. And in the audience were also Misato and Ryoji, who had used the bullet train to Tokyo-2 to enjoy this wonderful play.

However, they didn't notice the four men watching them, when the audience was starting to get up. "Ok... they are leaving. Everything goes according to plan."

Misato and Ryoji didn't notice them at first, while going with the flow of people to the exit. Instead they talked about what a master the main actor Mu-Tsu Mitsugoro was and how he despite his bad eyesight was able to play the fighting scenes perfect. Only his first name seemed a little strange, almost like a hair-care product. However, suddenly they felt that they were pushed towards a side exit.

"Hey, what is the idea...?" Royji started to complain, only to suddenly feel something pressing into his back.

"Better don't dare anything, lady, or he gets a bullet. This one is silenced," the man with the gun, the obvious leader, warned Misato, while pressing his silenced gun into Ryoji's back.

They had no illusions what that meant and could think of only one faction that would do that. SEELE obviously wanted to get rid of them now, with the opportunity to catch them outside of Tokyo-3 with their guard down. Seeing that the other three men were armed with knives and guns and looked like trained killers, they wondered how they could get out of this one.

After being forced to walk through a dimly lit corridor, they reached a small interitor yard that was littered with all kinds of stuff, junk and numerous old-fashioned round metal trash cans. "What are you waiting for?" the man with the gun shouted, pushing Royji between the trash cans to make him go faster.

While getting up, Royji felt the grip of one of the lids in his hand. _Now or never! _Not hesitating, he grabbed the lid, jumped around and... **-Clong!- -PFUMP- **...smashed it right into the gunman's face, the shot going wide! Misato knew instincively that there wasn't a second to lose. Jumping away, she kicked a ladder which at once fell down, blocking the way of the attackers.

"Damn it!" one of the men shouted, trying to throw his knife, but Ryoji thew the lid, hitting him at the throat. Then they wasted no time by running up some stairs back into the building, knowing that the attackers would be very fast after them. **-PFUMP- -Clac- **One shot barely missed them, hitting the wall. Quickly they ran inside.

However, tring to find the exit wasn't as easy as they had thought, when suddenly they found themselves in the midst of the props. "Blast, we're wrong here!" Misato cursed.

"They must be there somewhere!" They suddenly heard one of the killers shouting and steps advancing. They barely managed to hide behind some fake trees, watching two of the men running by. "You two guard the door!"

"The exit is guarded, we have to find another way out..." Ryoji whispered.

Careful to not make noise, they sneaked around the room, trying to find a way out. After a minute, they saw a curtain. "Perfect, the hamanichi..." Ryoji knew that this curtain led to the stage, and therefore to a way outside.

Suddenly the curtain was yanked open! "GOT YA!"

**-PFUMP- **They barely managed to jump aside to avoid the bullet, running into a different corridor to avoid getting shot, slamming shut a massive door behind them to stall the killers for a short moment.

To their big surprise however, they found themselves inside a labyrinth of corridors behind the stage. Hearing the killers already starting to chase them yet again, they wasted no time in trying to find another exit. However, it seemed that the building itself tried to mock them and they felt like running in circles.

"Shit, how can we lose these guys?" Misato cursed. She hadn't imagined her visit to a Kabuki theatre ending this way. It was supposed to be an enjoyable evening!

Ryoji knew that if this didn't end soon, they wouldn't have much of a chance. Then he saw a door. "Let's try that door!" He yanked the door open, only to stop dead in his tracks.

It was the backstage room of one of the actors, who obviously had been checking his stage make-up in the mirror. Specifically, it was the master actor, only that him now wearing thick glasses while still being in his make-up looked somewhat strange. The man had obviously noticed them as well. "Who has the nerves to dirty the room of the great Mitsugoro with their shoes?" he asked, annoyed.

"Oh, sorry! Wrong door," Ryoji excused, then quickly shut the door before he and Misato ran around a corner.

"That was a door!" one of the killers shouted, having heard Ryoji closing the door. Running there and yanking it open, they entered Mitsugoro's room, armed. "Hey you! Where are the two that just ran in here?"

Now Mitsugoro looked annoyed. Add to it that weapons generally meant trouble. "What? No one speaks to Mitsugoro in that tone," he warned them.

"Shut up and answer, old clown, or suffer the consequences!" the gunman threatened.

"What do I hear?... You dare to threaten me? ME?" Now he was pissed. No one dared to threaten a master of hidden weapons. Now THEY would suffer the consequences! "RAAAH! Down with you, scum!" he shouted, while suddenly chains came out of his big sleeves. The noise had finally attracted the security, who arrived only to find Mitsugoro giving the bad guys a severe beating.

However, Misato and Ryoji didn't know anything of it, having finally found the exit, jumping into an empty train car to get as far away from the theatre as they could.

"We know who we have thank for this..." Misato managed to get out while she leaned against the wall, trying to get her breathing under control.

Sinking down into one of the seats, Ryoji could only agree. "Yeah... Seems that they had decided that this was good opportunity to get rid of us. That can only mean that their attack can't be too far off."

Misato took a deep breath, before finally steadying herself. "At least now I know why you sleep with your gun under the pillow... Guess I have to do that as well... I thought they would wait with trying to kill us until the last Angel is dead and we lost our usefulness to them."

Ryoji thought about it for a moment. "Yeah, that makes me wonder as well. Why risk that? It's almost as if they know something which we don't..." He had no idea what exactly was going on and it made him nervous to no end. He was not used to being out of the loop. "You think it has something to do with this strange white-haired boy we encountered near Asuka? This Kaworu Shinji and Rei told us about? Remember what Ritsuko said, he could be a clone like Rei after we described him to her."

Misato stiffened a little when Ryoji mentioned Nagisa. The background check had been a dead end. What little they'd found was absolutely vague, making him only more suspicious to them. That, and how much he looked like a male version of Rei.

"I have no idea..." Misato looked out of the window over the brightly lit Tokyo-2. "But I will find out..."

* * *

_...at a lake near Tokyo-3, next day..._

The small lake near Tokyo-3 had seen better days. Before the city had been built, it had been in the middle of nowhere. When the city had been built, it had resulted in lots of junk being thrown into it. And then, with the damages from the Angel attack, lots of debris, even whole parts of buildings, had been dropped into it. All the building parts, wrecked streetlights, telephone and power poles now looked as if a small town had sunk into one half of the lake.

However, Tabris had no eye for all this, while standing at the shore of the lake, using his link with the holographic system of SEELE to speak with the council. To everyone else, nothing would be there, but he clearly saw the twelve big, black monoliths hovering above the water.

"Why did you call me out here? I could have listened to you at any place," Tabris asked, pretending to be bored to hide his grave disappointment that this meant his stay in Tokyo-3 would be over and he'd fufill his destiny, leving a shattered heart behind.

"It is not your place to question us," SEELE 06 reminded him.

"Oh please. Stop your show of muscle-flexing and just tell me if I can proceed." He was torn. On one hand he couldn't wait to rescue his father. On the other hand it would mean to never return.

"You coming here was a security measure, nothing more," Keel told Tabris. "And yes the time has come for you to fulfill your destiny."

Tabris gently shook his head. "You are still so arrogant... You simply do not want to understand that the all-father will stop your plans. He won't allow you to add the harm you plan to do to this world to the harm already done by the all-mother."

"You can think what you want. Just do what you need to do!" With that said, Keel cut the connection and the monoliths vanished from his view.

Tabris stood still, looking over the lake, thinking. _Either they are truely so foolish or they have a plan that is fated to fail. After all, as soon as the all-father has been put back together, he will stop them as soon as I tell him._

Then he again felt the presence. _She is still watching me..._

Several kilometers away on a hill, Misato had parked her car and watched the strange, white-haired boy through a pair of electronic binoculars. Everyone in NERV was put on a higher alarm level after the failed murder attempt in Tokyo-2 and she had become increasingly observant of Kaworu Nagisa. It was her gut feeling right now, but the more she watched him, the more she felt that something was wrong with him.

"I wonder what the hell he is doing? Talking with himself in the middle of nowhere..." Suddenly he turned around and seemed to look directly to her, showing a knowing smile. Misato gasped and put down her binoculars. "What the...? Did he notice me?"

Tabris knew that he had successfully startled her, while walking down the path to the next bus stop. Tomorrow would be the day of destiny.

_**to be continued...**_

_**Next Episode:**_

_**"Tabris"**_


	38. Tabris

I will say these things in advance: I have absolutely no rights to NGE, but you should have already known that.

The story itself is basically a re-telling of the original storyline, but twisted into my way. While at the beginning there seem to be only few deviances, it will become more with each episode. The people, their motivations and the backgrounds are, while holding true to the basic layout, changed at my imagination in many details, so canon-purists now are allowed to flame me.

NOTE: I hate both, the ending of the TV series, and how End of Evangelion turned out. So don't expect either of those outcomes.

This is Shinji/Rei. Finally the big confrontation with Tabris... Sorry if the other characters have only minor roles in this one, but it simply is the climax in the drama of Tabris and Asuka. The other characters will have lots of screentime in the next chapter. Also this chapter is very exposition-heavy, answering all the questions...which caused it to REALLY balloon up.

NOTE: I also have created a picture of how Rei now looks like with her long hair. In the picture, she's wearing her newly-designed plugsuit. I'm will to send the picture to interested readers.

NOTE 2: Edited the chapter to make it more clear, why Tabris couldn't feel emotions before.

After you've read the chapter, **please Review!** Please tell me your opinion. I promise to answer every review I get.

* * *

**Chapter 37: Tabris**

_I wonder why he wants to talk with me so early?_ Asuka wondered, while waiting for Kaworu to turn up. His phone call had been a little puzling, almost as if he hadn't actually wanted to call her. And now here she was, sitting on a park bench and waiting for her boyfriend to appear.

She hoped that it wouldn't take took long, since they had a synch-test later this morning, together with some other stuff that Dr. Akagi wanted to get done, now that they had the time during school break. Asuka knew by now that this "other stuff" would be either boring, embarrassing as hell, or both mixed together. She still remembered very well that test they'd to do in the nude. It had been one of her most embarrassing moments. That it had went to hell had made it even worse.

"Asuka."

Looking up she saw Kaworu standing before her. She hadn't even noticed him approaching. However, something seemed off about him. His normally carefree attitude was mostly missing and he looked rather serious. He also seemed tense somehow. All of these things made her nervous, something had to be really wrong for him to be like this.

Wordless, he sat down beside her. Silence errupted between them, as if both of them waited for the other to ay something.

"Ok, what's wrong? This isn't like you," Asuka finally said after some seconds of silence. The whole thing started to creep her out. Kaworu normally tried to always see the positive side of things, so this behaviour was alarming.

"Asuka, I have bad news. My guardians called me and I can not refuse their summons. I am forced to leave today," he somberly told her, and his mood wasn't even played, he really felt down.

That shocked Asuka. They'd just come together, and now he was forced to leave her. "W-was...? Wie-wieso?" _(Wh-what...? W-why?)_ she stammered, hoping that these words hadn't been real. She hadn't just found him, only to again lose him.

He took her hands into his. "My guardians said that they want me back home. I pleaded with them to not do that, but they gave me no choice or I would lose my father's fortune -everything he'd worked so hard for. I do not want to give them this victory."

"Your guardians are heartless jerks..." Asuka growled, overcoming her shock, now that she had a target to project anger on. How dare they to do this to such a nice boy?

_A description rather fitting for the comitee... _Kaworu thought, before carefully answering "That may be, but I have little choice, their word is law for me." Not a lie. After all giving him the green light for going on meant that he had to fulfill his destiny, if he wanted or not. "I do not know if I can ever return."

"Right after I finally got the courage to ask you out..." Asuka whispered. She didn't want to believe it. Right when she'd found the perfect boyfriend, he was taken from her. And there was nothing she could do.

"No, do not cry. You have to see what you have gained. Before we met, you thought that you were incapable of love. You are now a different person, you have grown and matured, both, emotionally and spiritually. Even if we never see each other again, you will never lose this gift," he tried to console her.

Asuka sniffed. "Gott, even now you manage to see the good things... If we don't see each other again, here something I hope you'll never forget."

Suddenly she grabbed him, pulled him towards her and crushed her lips on his. Kaworu was so surprised, despite knowing of this human custom, that he didn't put up any resistance. Actually, it was quite enjoyable and he felt that she put lots of emotion into it. Blood was rising into his cheeks and when they finally parted after a minute, a cute blush covered his face.

"That... that was very nice..." he slowly said, still overwhelmed.

Despite her sadness, Asuka managed a smile when seeing her boyfriend being so flustered. "Keep it always in memory when you think of me..." She then stood up. "I wish we could have a proper goodbye, but I..."

He held up his hands to stop her. "I... understand. You have obligations you can't ignore. I will be all right.... Thank you for your gift..." He watched Asuka giving him a last smile, before leaving the park.

Watching her walking away, he felt sad that soon she'd be confronted with the truth about him. How much would this hurt her? How betrayed would she feel? He didn't want to imagine it, since it made him feel guilty. Guilty of betraying the first person on this world that had given her conditionless love to him.

_Asuka... I'm sorry... _he silently apologised.

* * *

_...a hour later..._

Tabris looked at the huge metal hatch that normally was used for the launchpad of an Evangelion unit. It would lead him directly into the geofront, and from there to the central shaft that would lead him to his destination. This would be the moment were everyone would learn of his true nature, burning all bridges behind him.

_This is it... My destiny awaits me.... _He once again remembered Asuka's smile and how she'd made him feel warm. He felt his power surge. _**Asuka... I'm sorry that it came to this. There was nothing I could have done...**_

Taking a deep breath, he gathered his strength and allowed all the power he's supressed for such a long time to pour out. Standing on the hatch of the EVA-elevator, his field simply melted the hatch away. Ignoring the howl of the alarm sirens, he hovered down the saft, to his destiny.

o

One minute earlier...

"Ritsuko, I don't know... Shouldn't we go now?" Maya carefully asked. Not that she had anything against what Ritsuko was doing right now, but they had that synch-test to supervise in some minutes.

"Maya, Maya, Maya... You forget one of the advantages of being at the top... It means as long as I approve, we can allow ourselves to be some minutes late. The children will understand..." Ritsuko playfully scolded her.

"Uhm...Okhhhmmmp." Every further word was swallowed by Ritsuko's lips.

It was surprising how smoothly they'd managed to slowly escalate their relationship. It did help that nothing had happened for weeks. They'd today arrived at the 'heavy make-out'-stage. Ritsuko had locked the door to her office and both of them enjoyed each other. Maya sat on Ritsuko's lap, both hugging each other while slowly exploring aech other's mouth with deep kisses.

To Maya's surprise, Ritsuko, after getting comfortable with the idea, had proven to be the agressive one. It was almost always her who brought them one step further. After Ritsuko being so unsure about herself at first, it was a welcome surpise. Today was no exception, when a hand sneaked between them and then gently carrassed Maya's chest. Her eyes went wide and a gentle moan escaped her, showing Ritsuko that she liked that.

That was sign enough for Ritsuko to mercylessly continue this sweet torture, until Maya felt her swollen breasts and hard nipples straining her bra and uniform shirt, feeling as if they could burst out of them at every moment. This was too good to stop it...

**-EEEAAAAHHHHT- -EEEAAAAHHHHT- -EEEAAAAHHHHT-**

Maya literally jumped off Ritsuko, when suddenly the Angel-alarm blared. From one second to the other they became all business and ran out out the office towards the main bridge for the battle that surely would start in a matter of minutes. The fate of the world was after all more important than their personal business.

At the same time, the pilots were running towards their EVAs.

They'd just left their locker rooms when the alarm had went off. Since they were already in their plugsuits, they had lost no time and had started running towards the elevator that would bring them to the cages. They'd long waited for the final Angel, the wait starting to slowly wear down their nerves, but it now came all of a sudden. Not that the Angels were bound to any timetable, but still...

They wasted no words, saving their breath for the run.

Everything had become very hectical on the bridge once the alarm had went off. Everyone knew exactly what to do, having drilled these situations countless times, together with lots of the past encounters with Angels. So the situation on the bridge had fast turned totally professional when Misato stormed in.

"Report! Where did the Angel come from?" she commanded, trying to get an overview of the situation.

"It just appeared! Its AT-field suddenly flared up at ground level, showing its blue wavelength. It has molten though the armoured hatch of EVA-elevator 5 and it now moving down the shaft towards the geofront," Lt. Hyuga reported.

"Damnit..." Misato growled. That was right what they'd needed; an Angel invading the geofront. "Analysis of the Angel?"

"No analysis possible, no video feed from inside the shaft available. However, the Angel must be rather small, or it wouldn't fit into the shaft. It's raw energy output is the highest we've measured up to now," Lt. Hyuga answered, reading the text on his screen.

"The pilots have boarded their entry plugs and are ready for launch!" Maya reported.

"Launch them into the geofront," Misato ordered, then opened the chanel to the pilots. "Children, the Angel has already broken into one of the catapult shafts and is headed towards the geofront. You'll intercept it once it is inside. Be careful! Even though the Angel is small, it is strong. One of you alone can't stop it!"

"All right, Misato!" Shinji acknowledged, grabbing the heavy rifle.

"Yeah, we can finally put all this Angel-shit behind us!" Asuka eagery said, while readying her own weapons. After the bad news this morning, she needed something to do. And nothing would be better than a battle to distract her.

Rei felt a little tense, while loading her weapon. This would be the final Angel they'd have to confront, apart from that monster Lilith deep down in Terminal Dogma. She had no idea what NERV was supposed to do with her, once SEELE was defeated. Maybe she didn't want to know at all. Thinking of Lilith always made her uneasy.

_I have to concentrate on the situation at hand, _she reminded herself, going into position.

Fully armed, they waited, watching the inner wall of the geofront carefully. Every second now, the Angel could break through and they could take it under fire. Suddenly they saw it. A part of the wall, near the shaft, started to glow an angry red, which thren first turned yellow, then hot-white. And suddenly...

**-WOOOOOOMMMMMMMM- **In an explosion the wall bursted away.

The pilots didn't waste a second and at once opened fire before the smoke had set. Explosions blinded everyone. However, everything was in vain when they saw a wall glowing in a yellow-glowing ocagonal pattern throught the smoke; the Angel telling them with its AT-field that whatever they'd thrown at him, it had done nothing at all. However, the field -and therefore the Angel- didn't move. Nervous, they waited for the smoke to be removed by the ventilation of the geofront, and got a nasty surprise when they saw who the Angel was.

"WHAT?!" Asuka's scream of disbelief hurt everyone's ears. Although it was understandable. After all, hovering there, glowing with energy, was her boyfriend, Kaworu Nagisa. "Das kann nicht sein! Sag mir das ist nicht wahr!" (That can't be! Tell me this isn't true!) Asuka shouted emotionally through the outer speakers, hoping that this was just some kind of sick trick.

Tabris knew that this would happen. Still, it hurt a lot. _**"I wish it wouldn't be... Yet I can't escape my destiny... I'm Tabris, I'm sorry that it came to this."**_His voice sounded different, powerful. Like the voices of the Angels they'd faced before.

"BULLSHIT!" Asuka screamed, slamming her EVA's fists without effect against the AT-field in righteous fury. She felt so horribly betrayed that she was unable to find words for it. She wanted to hurt this... thing for playing with her emotions like this! Rip it to pieces until nothing was left! However, the field didn't even bulge a little bit; it was like a solid wall.

"Get your asses over here!" Asuka shouted to her fellow pilots in anger, when seeing that she alone had no effect at all.

Finally the others overcame their surprise. Rallying to help Asuka, they all surrounded the Angel, concentrating on getting rid of the damn field. The field started to flicker, but it seemed it would take some efford to dissolve it. However, Tabris couldn't have this let happen. Closing his eyes, he concentrated on using one of his most potent abilities. An ability that would allow him to stop them without causing them permanent harm.

"Wah, what the hell?" Toji gasped when suddenly he lost control of his EVA. It felt numb to him, as if his connection had been cut off, and yet wasn't. It was if if Unit-03 was suddenly a puppet on strings. Unit-03 took a swing and hit Unit-04 into the stomach, making it double over. "Shit, Hikari! No!"

"Ahhh! Toji....? Why.... did you... do that?" Hikari whimperd in pain, her EVA falling to the ground. The hit had really hurt, much more than normal, the pain making it impossible for her to move. She already had to force herself to not accidently throw up into the plug.

"This is not my fault! I can't control anything!" Toji screamed in panic, while fruitlessly yanking at the controls. Nothing worked. Then he suddenly saw the fist of his own EVA approaching... _Oh shi-_ ...and the next thing he saw were stars, while Unit-03 fell to the ground, dazed after this hit against the head.

Misato couldn't believe what she was seeing. "What is going on there? Is that some sort of malfunction?"

"No, the EVAs are all in perfect condition. The energy readings I get however show an outside influence, as if the Angel is using the EVA like a puppet!" Maya reported, while trying to make sense of the strange readings.

"SCHEIßE!" Asuka's profanity-filled scream returned their attention to the battle, only to see Unit-02 headbutting Unit-00 repeatedly.

"Soryu! Ow! Stop! Ahh!" Rei tried to shove Unit-02 away, but the horrible headache she developed together with the repeated hits made it very hard for her to concentrate. It felt as if her head was repeatedly slammed against a wall.

Finally she managed to grab Unit-02 hands, but that only resulted in both of them falling to the ground. In the following struggle they both became entagled in their power cables, immobilizing both of them and putting them out of the fight for the moment. Now it was only Unit-01 facing the Angel.

"Interesting... your vessel is made from the mother, so I have no control over it," Tabris mused. He'd speculated that this could be the case, but now he had confirmation.

Shinji knew that right now an attack wouldn't accomplish anything. He alone wasn't strong enough to break through the field. Glancing to the picture of his mother on one of the screens, he saw that she also seemed to think that. This Angel was so small, and yet his field was the most powerful they'd seen yet. He actually wondered if they'd be even able to break through it.

Suddenly Yui pulled him out of his thoughts. "Try to stall him. Give the others time to recover!"

Shinji nodded, his mother was right, they could only defeat him together. So what would be better than stalling it... by talking? Looking towards the Angel he'd known as Kaworu, he decided to ask him the one thing that made all of them angry. "Why did you hurt Asuka by pretending to like her?"

_**"It was never my intention to cause her emotional harm. However, I didn't pretend. Our connection just..happened and I found myself to enjoy her presence. I knew that I couldn't stay, so I told her I have to leave..." **_It sounded a lot like a boyfriend explaining to a girl's father his behaviour.

"And you conveniently left out the fact that you are the very thing were are here to destroy..." Shinji accused him, while glancing to the others, who were starting to slowly get their bearings.

Tabris looked a little guilty, but then steeled his resolve. _**"I told her the truth... from a certain point of view. I never openly lied to her... And now I will not be any longer stalled..."**_

_Damn, that's not good! _

Shinji's eyes went wide when he realised that his tactic had been known to the Angel the whole time, but before he could react, a wall of pure force slammed into him, knocking him to the ground. A little dazed, he addressed his mother "Good plan... too bad he seemed to know right from the beginning."

"Nobody is perfect..." Yui had to admit that this Angel was very confusing. So human that it was next to impossible to not think of him as such.

Meanwhile Tabris turned his eyes to a spot on the ground, near the pyramid. Concentrating, he held his hands forward and his eyes flashed for a second, then... **-WWWWRRROOOOOOMMMM!- **A powerful explosion ripped the ground away, slamming through armor as if it was paper, revealing a dimly lit, huge shaft that led into the depths.

"The Angel has broken through the entire armor! He now has direct access to the central shaft!" Lt. Hyuga reported, when the explosion shook the bridge.

"That goes directly down to the Terminal Dogma!" Misato knew what the Angel was after. And should he reach that goal, it would be game over for them.

Obviously, Gendo knew this as well, since by now he'd become really nervous. No wonder, since should that Angel reach the Terminal Dogma, and therefore Lilith, they would have no time to regret anything. "Seal all the blast gates in the connecting tunnel! We have to slow the Angel down."

"You don't really think this will seriously hinder him?" The Vice-Commander had his doubts about that. And like everyone he felt fear. As unstoppable as the Angel appeared, there was the possibility that in the next minutes they could face their destruction.

"No... but hopefully it will give our pilots at least a little time to catch up..."

Right then Tabris hovered down into the shaft. He didn't see Unit-02 freeing itself from its own cable. Asuka was livid at Tabris. How dare he to knowingly break her heart? Running towards the shaft, she looked down into the darkness and then ejected her cable, throwing the power connector down into the darkness.

"Asuka, what are you doing?" Misato demanded to know.

"Any better idea how to get down there? The cable is a good rope to slide down on and there're connectors down there," she waved it off, before grabbing her cable and jumping into the shaft. "Urgh..." The friction of the cable on the hands of her EVA hurt, but she endured it, while descending into the darkness.

_Warte nur ab, bis ich dich in die Finger bekomme! _(Wait until I get my hands on you!) Asuka thought angrily, while descending.

After half a minute she finally reached the bottom of the shaft. Tabris' way was no secret, when she saw the molten blast gate. Quickly connecting with a new power connector, she ran down the tunnel, encountering further molten gates, the glowing metal being a haunting look in the semi-darkness. Then finally she saw a white light down the tunnel, together with a hot-red glow, propably from another molten gate. Running faster, she saw him approaching the final gate, which would lead to the chamber of Lilith.

"BLEIB SOFORT STEHEN! ICH BIN NOCH NICHT FERTIG MIT DIR!" _(STAY WHERE YOU ARE! I'M NOT FINISHED WITH YOU YET!) _Asuka angrily shouted. And to her surprise, Tabris did exactly that. She wasn't stupid enough to run into his AT-field when he faced her, and stopped. "How could you play with my feelings like that? Was I just there for you to get your jollies?"

Tabris looked sad. _**"I never wanted to hurt you..."**_

"Well, you did!" Asuka hissed. As much as this was personal for her, part of her hoped that the others would hurry, since alone she would have no chance to take him down. "You knew the entire time that you'd backstab me in the end!"

Tabris had the decency to look ashamed. _**"I have no excuse. I knew this would be hard on you, but I was not thinking... Being able to feel emotion after billions of years without them... You gave me something I never had before; the feeling of being truely cared for, and that made me so drunk with emotion that I didn't think things through, hoping that your pain would be manageable once you learn the truth..."**_

It was true, a being without a body could hardly feel emotions, which were a state of mind caused by reactions inside a body. Even Bardiel and Iruel had had bodies of their own. But he as a being of pure energy had been unable to feel any, which had helped to alienate him from his siblings. Being suddenly able to feel emotion in a body had overwhelmed him.

"So it was all real?" As much as she tried, some of her anger left her. She was still furios at him, but the edge was gone. Big part of her anger had come from the feeling that he'd just toyed with her. Instead of hot anger, there now started to be sadness that it had come this way.

_**"Yes. I was never dishonest with how I felt for you..."**_ He then looked up when he heard something from the tunnel and saw some lights. _**"Your friends are coming. I'm sorry, Asuka, but this is something I have to do, if I want or not."**_

"Wait!" But it already was too late when his AT-field blocked the way and he started to melt down the last blast gate. "No, don't do that!"

He didn't listen to her and continued, while the other Evangelions finally arrived. However, as much as they tried, his field seemed to be even stronger than before, and they couldn't even make a dent into it now. Then the gate broke down, giving Tabris free access to the chamber of Lilith. Tabris ignored them and hovered into the big chamber, in front of the crucified Angel, feeling that he finally was at the goal of his long journey.

_**"Adam, the all-fath.... LILITH?" **_From one second to the other everything changed for him when he recognised the Angel in front of him -the one person that he'd never wanted to see again. Panic gripped him and he tried to flee, but unseen forces held in place and a strong AT-field surrounded both of them, shielding them from the EVAs that stormed into the chamber.

Lilith rose her head, looking directly at Tabris, gloating glee in her seven eyes. _**"Tabris... Youngest and yet strongest of my unfaithful children. I knew that you would manage to reach me."**_

_**"What is the meaning of this, traitor-mother?"**_ Tabris tried to sound brave, but he knew that Lilith was able to see the fear he was radiating. He'd never been able to hold any secrets from her and now he felt terminal fear for the first time in his long existence. _**"Where is the all-father?"**_

_**"Ha, ha, ha!"**_ Lilith laughed mockingly. _**"He had never been here, little fool. It was me the entire time that sent out the call that pulled all of you to this place. Like the flies to the poisoned honey. Your weak siblings paid the price for their weakness, and now I have you where I wanted you..."**_

_**"I won't give you anything! You have brought enough pain to this world, I won't allow you to destroy them!"**_ Brave words, but Tabris knew that they were only words, and his mother's laughter was proof enough that she knew so as well.

_**"You know you can't stop me... However, you can do me a favor. I once gave life to you. This also means that I can always take back what I once gave! Your strength will be MY strength! And I now will reclaim it!"**_

Lilith's seven eyes suddenly started to glow an angry yellow, her sight spearing into Tabris. The pilots watched in horrified fascination when tendrils of energy errupted from the screaming Tabris, flowing into the huge body of Lilith. Damned to do nothing but watch, unknown forces made them almost wet their plugsuits, an atmosphere of pure malevolence filling the chamber.

Rei's fear was especially great and she _did _lose control. However, she'd no mind for the fact that she'd just wet herself. Lilith's growing strength and closeness were putting a strain on her that made it difficult to hold control of Unit-00.

_Focus! I will not allow her to hold control over me!_ she told herself, trying to regain control.

The horrible display went on for nearly a minute, before Lilith's hole body started to glow, and she let out a laugh of triumph. _**"HA HA HA! YEEES! I feel my powers returning! Strengh!....Wonderful strength!" **_The energy transfer suddenly ended and Lilith spamsed, her glow fading to a minimum. _**"-Argh- ...too much power too soon. Need...time..." **_She looked to the barely floating Tabris. _**"Thank you, my foolish son, for returning what is mine."**_

The pilots stopped cold when she addressed them next. _**"You have gained a little time, my flawed creations... Enjoy it, since once I'm used to my strength again, your time will end..."**_ She was silent for a short moment, then added when looking to Unit-00, "_**And you, bastard child of mine, you will be the first I shall destroy..."**_ She then wrapped her AT-field closely around herself, to protect herself from any kind of attack, and went into a trance.

As soon as she'd done that, the last bit of glow left Tabris, and he started to fall towards the LCL lake far below. It propably would have been a deadly fall, if not for Unit-02 jumping forward and catching him in its hand just in time.

Asuka looked at the small form in the hand of her EVA. It would be so simple... Just close the hand... But all anger had fled her during the horrible display of Lilith leeching all power out of him. He now looked sickly, weak... as if at death's door. No, she couldn't do it. Regardless how angry she'd been before, regardless that he was an Angel... she couldn't ignore that something had gone gravely wrong, something that he hadn't anticipated.

Looking again at him, she only felt compassion...

* * *

_...hospital security wing..._

"To be honest, I wouldn't even know where to start treating him.... His biology is a jumbled mess of Angel and human DNA, far, far worse than Rei's had ever been. But this no longer is of importance anyway... It's as if Lilith has pulled the plug. He's running on his last reserves, and even these will vanish soon..."

All of them had listened to Ritsuko's explanation and now looked to the person lying on the examination table, numerous guards in the room showing how much they feared him, even in this state. Tabris looked even worse now, his pale skin now a chalk-white, while his hair started to fall out. He also showed signs of dehydration, as if he started to simply lose all fluid.

Besides Ritsuko, there were the Commander, Vice-Commande, Misato, Ryoji and the pilots. They all had an interest in the last Angel, but now it seemed that many things would get no answer. However, suddenly...

"...Please.... listen to me..."

Tabris had woken up, his voice weak. They quickly surrounded the table and Tabris look first to Asuka, as if wanting to say sorry. Then he said "I know that my time is short... Soon I will be gone. And after this treachery, I have no choice to tell you everything, to prevent the worst."

"Better explain what this means. Our time is limited as well, so we have no use for riddles," Gendo said under no terms. The presence of this Angel made him nervous.

Tabris took some breaths, before starting. "I will tell you the true story of the Angels. Of Adam, Lilith, treachery... and their and my connection to the recent events... and what you still have to face...." He took another breath, before starting.

"Billions of years ago, a race of being completed their understanding of science in the still young galaxy. Their planet had come into being early. Their society had developed to the point, where they felt that they wouldn't be able to move any further, without other species' to interact with them.... They were called... the Ancient Ones...."

"However... they were sad when realizing that only few intelligent species did exist. Many planets that could develop life still empty of it... And so they decided to develop a bold plan. Time was of no essence for them, they knew that countless generations would pass, before it would give results. Yet they all agreed... They'd help to seed the beginnings of life on countless fitting worlds, and then steer everything in the way, that the end result would be intelligent life..."

"Of course they knew they themselves would be incapable of doing so. Thus they created artificial guardians, who would initiate the process of evolution on these worlds, and then monitor everything to intervene... in emergencies... and report once intelligent life had developed... Countless guardians were sent... But then something happened... When the guardian called Lilith was created, her matrix was flawed..."

"Flawed? In how far?" Ritsuko questioned. The whole thing was fascinating. To imagine that another intelligence had build the Angels...

"Her mind hadn't been created to the specifics... she was insane... Only after she'd been sent to this world did the Ancient Ones realize their mistake. So they created a second guardian... Adam. His ensured mental health was supposed to still give this world a chance. They sent him after her, to deactivate her... and then take guardianship of the still young Earth... How could they have known that Lilith had already grown beyond her programming?"

"When Adam finally reached Lilith, she knew that she would never be able to win a battle... So she did the next logical thing... she seduced him... She offered him that they could both create life together, life that came from the two of them.... Adam hadn't been prepared for this situation, and so his emotions got the better of him and he fell for her..."

"...Their union bore fruit and from it, the fifteen Angels came into being.... However, it didn't go the way that Lilith had intended it to be. She'd been unable to get Adam to willingly walk into a trap she'd prepared... and their children were loyal to Adam, since they felt her sinister nature.... She decided that she didn't care about us and would use Adam's own weapon to remove him as a factor... The weapon you know as the Lance of Longinus..."

"The lance belonged to Adam? We always thought that it was made to control him," the Vice-Commander commented. The idea that the lance belonged to Adam was a new one.

"Yes, the Ancient Ones gave it to him in case Lilith would want to fight... She thrusted the lance into his chest, but didn't outright kill him. She wanted him to witness... how she'd create 'her' world. She then banished all of us into another dimension, from where we could watch but never return... her hold over this world was absolute, so we couldn't return..."

"Lilith has gone completely mad... She thinks of herself as a goddess over this world. In her mind the goal of creating intelligent life was twisted into life that would come to pray to her until the end of eternity!.... -cough- The process of evolution was unneccassary brutal and Lilith was impatient, many times destroying things that could have easily been corrected.... by smashing asteroids into the planet..."

Tabris coughed a few more times, his condition worsening. It left everyone with some seconds to imagine Lilith exterminating the dinosaurs by causing a huge asteroid to smash into Earth. Finally, Tabris continued.

"...then finally a species evolved that fit what Lilith wanted... Intelligent, capable of worshipping her... But in the recent centuries she became disappointed... You Lilim were simply too idependent for her to control... So she started to slowly poison your seed... Adam knew what she was doing, he...he didn't want to see you destroyed! You were what the Ancient Ones had hoped for... And then you disturbed Lilith's plans greatly, by discovering Adam."

"So it wasn't the removal of the lance that caused Adam's destruction?" Ryoji asked, curious. "After all, the removal could have only been a good thing for him."

"...Oh yes, the removal of the lance actually started to restore Adam... Lilith panicked!... She knew Adam was the only one capable of stopping her.... So she attacked him mercilessly while he was still weak, sending her powers over half the world... to blow him apart... It caused deep scars to the world... Adam's body was almost completely destroyed... and we thought Lilith had perished in this act.... We were wrong, as seen... she was only horribly weakened, but hadn't perished..."

"...It finally broke down the barrier, and my siblings were enraged. They heard a call that our father was impirsoned... by you, and enraged they decided to free him and destroy you... How could we have known that Lilith was luring us to our deaths?....And the body of the all-father is still missing..."

Silence then lasted for several seconds, before Rei of all people decided to say something. "This explains why the Angels are attacking mankind. However, your own connection to these events and the future events are still unknown."

Tabris coughed a few times, before finding his voice. "My own story is deeply entwined with the future... I was actually the first to come to this world, only some years after Adam got blown apart... A being without a body, holding the very soul of Adam himself... I had no idea how to achieve my goal, until one day I was contacted... by Lorenz Keel of SEELE..."

"...He made me an offer... a body created from human blood and blood of the all-father... in return I would accept a deal that I would manipulate the spare bodies to infuse them with limited intelligence and awareness and wait until they would allow me to fulfill destiny... I accepted. I entered this body... while it was still young, thought in my arrogance that their plans would never succeed... I was a fool..."

"...Then finally they sent me here... During my stay, I experienced emotions... that I never before ever had felt... My heart was heavy when I had to go for my destiny... only to find that I had been set up... Two forces now want to destroy you... SEELE on their ill-intended crusade... and the traitorous all-mother Lilith in her madness..."

"...What Lilith wants, is clear.... What SEELE wants is every bit as horrible... They -cough- they want to melt all of your species down into a single... collective being, with themselves as the brain of this being.... They plan to initiate a Third Impact to destroy all of you!"

"How do they plan to do that? According to our theory, Third Impact can be achieved by forcing the bodies of Adam, or one of the Angels, together with Lilith... However, you are the last Angel, and Adam got stolen from us and is somewhere else," Ritsuko wondered.

Tabris' eyes widened a bit. "The body of the all-father is still present? Then there is hope... -cough- Once I pass away, the soul of Adam will return to his body... He will have access to all of my knowledge... he is your only hope of defeating Lilith before she can bring even more harm to this world!"

Nobody liked the idea that they'd have to rely on an Angel of all things to protect them form Lilith, but the decision wasn't theirs to make any longer. However, there was another thing where they very well could make a difference.

"What are SEELE's plans? We know that an attack is imminent, but the way the plan to initiate Third Impact is unknown to us," Gendo questioned Tabris.

Tabris looked at him with haunted eyes, the look of guilt. "Part of it...is my fault. They have created nine more warriors, piloted by the parts of the very bodies I helped to alter.... They plan to get in possession of the warrior you created from the all-mother.... Should all nine of them manage to form the Tree of Life around it and then release all of their energy at the same time... then you are doomed!"

"Dr. Akagi... Is this possible?" the Vice-Commander asked Ritsuko.

Ritsuko seemed to think about all of it for some seconds, then her features darkened considerably. "Yes, it is possible. If these mass-produced Evengelions have S²-engines, the sheer power surge rushing into Unit-01's own engine would combine with the genetic material from both sides..."

Suddenly Tabris coughed heavily, droplets of blood landing on the white sheet covering his chest. He looked ready to die now, and seemed to be awake only by sheer will. "Asuka..."

She didn't hesitate to hold his hand. She felt horrible being forced to watch him wither away and die. Looking at his eyes she suddenly realised that he couldn't see her any longer, a milky-white layer covering them. "I'm here..."

"Asuka... -cough- I never wanted to hurt you.... It was my own foolishness that caused you this pain... Most of my life... I was pure energy...unable to feel any emotion.... And suddenly, I became drunk on them.... unable to think.... of...the...consequences of my actions..." His voice was weak already, barely audible.

"No... I won't hold it against you..." She felt utterly unable to do so. All her anger had fled her in the face of his nearing death. She simply couldn't stay angry with him... And in a way, she did understand him. "I have already forgiven you..." She couldn't help it, tears started to roll down her face.

Tabris barely managed the last words. "You... were the only one who...ever gave me conditionless love.... Hopefully... the all-father will grant me a....second chance.... Asuka... be strong...."

His voice fainted away and he closed his eyes, then Asuka felt his hand going limb. Gently putting it on his chest, she didn't put any efford in stopping the tears. "...I...I can't hurt the bitch that calls herself your mother.... But I promise you... all these others will pay.... I will hurt them....really hurt them..." She then gently pulled the white sheet over his face.

Suddenly a bird of light errupted out of his chest! It was at least four times as big as the one that had represented Rei's soul! It glowed almost as bright as the sun, showing the sheer power of Adam's essence, and hovered for some seconds, before leaving through the ceiling to return to its body, leaving behind the body under the sheet.

No one dared to disturb Asuka, while she silently stood there, mourning Tabris. No one had noticed the adults silently leaving the room, grave concern on their faces.

Gendo addressed them as soon as the door had closed behind the. "This is all we need to know, an attack is now imminent.... Mr. Kaji, contact all you contacts in the military and government, the time has come to act and we need to fortify the city...."

He then turned to Misato. "Major Kaji, the geofront has to be turned into a fortress, all entrances have to be sealed or fortified, and alert the technicians to install the device "B" into the road access. All the personell has to be armed!"

Then Gendo looked to Fuyutsuki. "The whole city needs to be evacuated, together with the entire area in a 50 kilometer radius. Make sure that the needed orders are given."

Finally he turned to Ritsuko. "This is an emergency, at once prepare to install the proto-S²-engines that we have salvaged from Rei and the Yamagishi girl into the Units 00 and 02 as per emergency plan. We have to take the risk, or this is a battle we cannot win."

No one dared to question his orders. After all, this was everything they could do to prepare themselves for the coming storm. While they could do nothing against Lilith on their own, SEELE would have a hard fight on their hands, if they wanted to get Unit-01 into their hands.

They all knew, this was now the final battle ahead.

* * *

_...half an hour later..._

The whole city was on the move. The general evacuation order had been given, for the city itself and everything in a radius of 50 kilometers around it. A battle was emminent and they didn't want to risk anyone's life. All the inhabitants were leaving, taking with them as much as they could, knowing that after it was over, there propably would be enormous damage to the city. And that meant enormous damage to their property.

They only people present in the city for the big confrontation would be the personell of NERV inside the geofront, and the army.

Indeed, the army -consisting of UN and JSSDF forces- was right now busy with fortifying its position for the upcoming battle. The air was swarming with planes, helicopters and hovercraft, patrolling the airspace above Tokyo-3, while on the ground tanks battalions, infantry, artellery and special forces were moving in. Everyone expected the battle to become very bloody.

This worry wasn't unfounded -even though the population couldn't have known this- since the named inner circle of SEELE had vanished without a trace directly after the fiasco with the 17th Angel, although with enough efford it would be possible to find them. Indeed, UN special forces were already swarming out. Question was, if there was enough time. And their disappearance meant that the attack to get control of Unit-01 in order to initiate Third Impact with the Tree of Life was a matter of days, or maybe even only hours.

This was coupled with reports of numerous army units around the world, together with all their equipment, deserting and then vanishing. They were most likely SEELE's attack forces to breach into the geofront and gain control of Unit-01.

Inside the geofront, preparation were also underway. All the small entrances were either sealed with bakkelite or, the ones that they couldn't simply seal, prepared to be tightly locked and the tunnels were set up with blockades manned with soldiers. Technicians were busy with installing the device "B" into the road access while the defensive weapons of Tokyo-3 were checked. The crews for the Evangelions were kept busy preparing for the installation of the proto-S²-engines into the Units 00 and 02. Everyone prayed that this wouldn't blow them sky-high.

However, in the midst of all this activity, there was one group that wasn't busy with physical work. Instead they were busy with saying temporarily goodbye. In the parking lot of the geofront, several transports stood, and the people closest connected to the pilots were getting ready to leave Tokyo-3.

"Promise me that you take good care of our daughter, young man," Mrs. Horaki told Toji with a stern voice, making the boy flinch.

"Mom! I thought we agreed that you don't scare him any longer!" Hikari protested, taking hold of Toji's hand to reassure him. What was it with her mother trying to intimidate her boyfriend?

Toji didn't get a word out, but thankfully his father saved him from even more embarrassment. "I can assure you, my son is more than capable of protecting your daughter, as he had proven several times already." That helped to get her off Toji's case.

Toji finally took all his courage together, and said. "I promised you I'd look out for her. That's why I started this. I still stand to it."

"The knight in shining armor... That's one of the reasons I like you." And then, just to annoy her mother, she kissed Toji. Mrs. Horaki didn't look too happy, but there was little she could say, while Mr. Suzuhara gave them a knowing smile.

Meanwhile Misato spoke with Kensuke and Mayumi. Since now the cat was out of the bag, Mayumi didn't any longer had to be kept a secret. "Your father regrets that he can't be here, but right now it's a huge mess and as non-essential personell he'll need a little longer before he can join you." She told him, before turning her attention to Mayumi, who held Pen-Pen in her arms. "You take good care of him?"

"Yes, no problem. I understand that you don't want him in a battle zone. Kensuke and I will take good care of him and return him to you in good health." Mayumi looked to Kensuke. "Thank you for allowing me to go with him."

Misato laughed a little, small things like this helped to lighten the mood in this dark time. "After seeing you two lovebirds, I couldn't rip you apart." A slight blush from these two made her smile. Teenagers exploring their feelings were so cute.

Pen-Pen warked, waving his flipper to say goodbye for the moment.

Shinji was held by his uncle Kaldor while they said goodbye to each other. However, Kaldor wasn't concerned about Shinji not returning to him. "I know you and your friends have become really strong. And even though I will be concerned about your welfare, I know that you can taken them on."

"I... thanks, uncle!" That was the only thing Shinji could say, the emotional support giving him strength for the upcoming events.

Kaldor then looked to Rei. "While I have no doubt about Shinji's strength, I still hope you watch each other's backs. He has made a good choice in you and I hope you both survive. After all I want to see you two getting your own kids..."

Rei blushed a little and stayed silent. She didn't want to say anything, because she knew she'd make a fool of herself in her current state of mind. So much was changing. The idea of having children of her own after all this was finally over was like the anchor she needed in these times of uncertainess and change.

All the good-byes were finally said, and they all watched the transports with their friends leave.

However, at the same time, the path of the future was decided, when the brightly glowing bird, after having raced with enormous speed though the air over the ocean, had finally found its destination in the wilderness of the land called China.

This would be the very place where it would merge with the other half of the puzzle to finally be complete again and bring itself back to life in its true form. It then dived down, directly into the ground, passing through matter as if it was only thin air.

It could feel it, the body was near, waiting to finally again house the one thing that truely made it alive. The bird shot through numerous layers of stone, concrete and other things, before it finally hovered in front of a tank that contained what once had been lost. It watched the goal of its long travel for a moment, totally ignoring the alerted scientists, before gliding into the tank, merging with its body.

Once settled in, all conscious though was shut off. He was hurt -badly hurt- and needed to heal himself back to full health. So instinct took over for now and he went fully defensive, while starting to repair the damage done to him. The scientists could only watch when all of a sudden the elusive embryo started to glow, wrapping itelf into a cocoon of light.

"Sir, what do you think has just happened?" one of them asked the scientist in charge of the whole research.

"I don't know..." He looked to the gauges and his eyebrows went up. "There is a serious increase in energy output and temperature. And also..." **-Tschkrrrtschhhh-** Looking up, he saw that all of a sudden a wall of energy had appeared, surrounding the water tank, severing all the wires, causing the screens to go blank.

Everyone gulped. Suddenly they had the feeling that things were slowly getting out of their control.

* * *

_...at night..._

An uneasy night settled over Tokyo-3, while the evacuation of the city and the whole surrounding area was in full swing and the army continued to move into the city and the surrounding landscape in huge numbers to fortify the city, all the remaining NERV personell had retreated into the geofront and tried to sleep, since they had no idea what the next day would bring.

However, their sleep was uneasy, as the threads of destiny had come apart, and what could be and what could have been was assaulting their vulnerable minds in relentless attacks, forcing them to live through nightmares of undisputed horror.

o

_"Wha...?" Shinji had no time to react._

_The white, mass-produced EVAs were surrounding him, Unit-01 was trapped between them. As much as he tried, he was now at their mercy. They forced him into their middle, forming the Tree of Life around him - a mockery of a name since the only thing it would bring was death and destruction and rip out the very soul of the world._

_He was totally helpless when they impaled themselves with their own lances, and the burst of energy initiated 3rd impact. Helpless he'd to watch people dissolving into LCL, then he drowned in the sea that humanity had become. In this sea, only one entity existed... an entity utterly incapable of the most basic creative thought. A dead end in this forced evolution._

_He'd failed everyone._

o

_Rei was in a nightmare. A nightmare so horrible that she felt going into primal fear._

_She was melting into a huge, white something... becoming a monster that shed all her humanity, turning mad and megalomanic. Suddenly thoughts of "giving a gift" echoed through her mind and she'd become a horrible doomsday machine, a smiling angel of death._

_She saw her copies, their faces masks of benevolence, violating the minds of the people to use the faces they trust the most against them. Some tried to resist and their minds were raped to force them to accept becoming one. In the end the result was the same, mankind stopped existing, their individuality, the one thing that made them stand apart, destroyed._

_She'd commited the most horrible crime._

o

_"Aaaaahhhhhh!" Asuka screamed in pain when the monsters swarmed on her._

_The battle had went so well, but suddenly they'd come back to life and now they were ripping her EVA -and therefore her- apart! Another scream ripped through the plug, when the high synch-ratio transfered the damage to the EVA's eyes to her, and she started to bleed from her left eye._

_They were eating parts of her EVA now, and her screams became weaker when the blood loss started to make her body shut down. She was only dimly aware when they threw the massacred Unit-02 down to the ground, where the huge corpse remained._

_Then everything around her turned dark and she welcomed it, since finally the pain ended._

o

_What a way to end up: from being the shootingstar of school basketball to being a cripple sitting in a wheelchair, missing an arm and a leg._

_Toji felt lousy, while following the live-broadcast about the battle of Tokyo-3, which from what he could gather, was a total chaos. He wondered if Shinji and Misato were still alive. The uncertaincy of what could happen to them was eating at him._

_A tear escaped him. They were dying out there, and he could only sit here and do nothing at all. He'd become a useless cripple, forgotten by almost everyone. The pain of being useless and forgotten hurt much more than the actual injuries._

o

_Holding the warm-water penguin close, Hikari ran in panic through the streets of Tokyo-2, as if this would help her to escape this madness._

_Everywhere glowing Reis had popped up, reducing people to orange goo. Hikari was not eager to share that fate with them, so with Pen-Pen safely in her arms, she desperately tried to escape this madness. However, everything was in vain, when suddenly one Rei appeared directly in front of her, her red eyes breaking through all of her mental barriers._

_"You innermost desire..." she whispered, then Hikari suddenly knew no more._

o

_"Well... that's it..." Misato whispered, while she felt life slowly leaving her through the wound in her chest._

_Her vision started to become hazy, the horrible battlefield inside the corridor starting to disappear, while she thought of happier times, if she had done the right thing, of friends alive and lost. It was ironical that instead of a huge Angel, she'd die because of an ordinary bullet fired by a soldier. Stange that her end would be so profane after all the things she'd survived._

_Finally death claimed her, but in her last, shallow breaths she didn't notice the glowing Rei that looked in pity at her and her body dissolved, before an explosion ripped the entire area apart._

_She'd found refuge from the pain.... at the cost of losing herself._

o

_Being already gone gave you a strange perspective, especially when suddenly you were yanked into something that could only be described as a mealstrom of chaos and thoughts. And yet, Kaji was able to glimpse what had happened to the world, and it was horrible._

_Earth... was dead. Whatever had happened, it had devastated the planet._

_No, that wasn't any longer a world worth to live in. Giving up himself, his self vanished in the chaos of voices._

o

_"Liar!" that was the only thing she could scream after hearing the damning confession from Gendo._

_A burning pain then told her that Gendo also didn't care about her and had shot her into the chest. The shock was so great, she fell backwards into the LCL lake, where she remained while she felt her life slowly bleeding out of her. A fitting end, so horribly alone after she'd managed to push away everyone else in her stupid desire to be with this man who'd used her._

_She could have had a fulfilled life, but instead she'd thrown it away in her stupidity and now she was given the punishment for her horrible deeds. While she descended into pain, she didn't notice the glowing Rei standing over her, giving her a strange smile, before she dissolved into the lake._

_She knew no more._

o

_What had he done?_

_In his fanatical pursuit of being re-united with Yui, he'd lost sight of what she had stood for. She'd wanted a better world for the children, for their son. Rei had known of this failure, and so she had rejected him, deciding to take matters into her own hands, making one desaster even worse than it already was._

_Gendo held his arm-wound and looked up, seeing a totally out-of-control Unit-01 advancing on him. There wasn't anyone, neither Shinji nor Yui, behind its movement. No, it was there to judge him for his horrible deeds. And the judgement was swift, when he was bitten in half by it._

_His life ending, he didn't even notice when his body dissloved into LCL._

o

_He could only watch while Tokyo-3 was reduced to a smoking crater; the geofront turned into a rubble field. And not to speak of the horrible loss of life._

_Kozo Fuyutsuki felt sadness fill his heart. What had taken years to build, was destroyed in minutes. Thousands of lives were destroyed in a senseless battle. He'd seen too much suffering over the years and he felt that he wouldn't survive this day. Strangely enough, the thought didn't make him panic._

_Perhaps having seen so much suffering made the end seem all too tempting._

o

_Panic had gripped the army base, when all of a sudden strange, glowing girls had appeared, reducing the personell to liquid. Even shooting them didn't do a thing._

_In her panic, Mana had hidden herself in Trident's cockpit, hoping that whatever it was, it hopefully wouldn't find her there. But then she looked up and saw... Trident's AI tried in panic to warn her, but it already was too late for her, and the AI screamed in real anguish over its loss._

o

_She felt that this was false. She knew that this wasn't her sempai, the woman she loved. This had to be some kind of imposter wanting her to lower her defenses. But all these facts didn't reach her brain after all the horrible fighting. She only wanted to leave this horrible place, this horrible violence, behind._

_Maya gave in to the false Ritsuko and a surge of panic and shame at her mental weakness came over her, shame that she had betrayed her principles, before she knew no more._

o

_He knew that that this was not Misato. He knew that he should say no._

_Makoto Hyuga however had used up all of his strength. He was tired and it was so tempting to just give in and let it all go. It was so tempting... He was ashamed at his weakness when he gave up the fight and just let it happen and let the fake Misato kiss him. His shame only stopped when he was unable to feel anything at all any longer._

o

_"NO! GO AWAY! NOT THIS WAY!" Shigeru screamed in terror._

_It had started as a single Rei appearing in front of him, but he'd rejected her outright, stating he had no real love. And suddenly he'd become surrounded by them, battling against his mental walls to force him into their way._

_Finally the stress became too much and he was forced to follow, but at least unlike others, he, Shigeru Aoba, hadn't been weak and had not went down without a fight..._

_**to be continued...**_

_**Next Episode:**_

_**"Prelude to the Storm"**_


	39. Prelude to the Storm

I will say these things in advance: I have absolutely no rights to NGE, but you should have already known that.

The story itself is basically a re-telling of the original storyline, but twisted into my way. While at the beginning there seem to be only few deviances, it will become more with each episode. The people, their motivations and the backgrounds are, while holding true to the basic layout, changed at my imagination in many details, so canon-purists now are allowed to flame me.

NOTE: I hate both, the ending of the TV series, and how End of Evangelion turned out. So don't expect either of those outcomes.

This is for the loooong wait, but creativity is a frickle thing, and comined with stress it can vanish pretty fast. Here finally the wait before the storm, before the battle for the world is on. **Note that this chapter again has adult content (but this time not Shinji and Rei) for which you can find the link in my bio.**

NOTE: I have started to re-compile the story in pdf-format with better formatting and lots of pictures (a number I had to tweak). I'll send the first book (which covers the first 14 chapters) to everyone interested.

After you've read the chapter, **please Review!** Please tell me your opinion. I promise to answer every review I get.

* * *

**Chapter 38: Prelude to the Storm**

It was deathly silent in Tokyo-3.

Just minutes earlier, the last civilians had left the 50-kilometer zone around the city, now only the personell of NERV and the army were left. The silence was occassionally disturbed by the sound of helicopters or heavy weapons going into position. Orders were shouted while the whole city, already a fortress in its retracted mode, was even more fortified than it already was. Preperations for an enemy whose stregth they could only guess as enormous.

Not visible were the radar planes that partrolled the border of the evacuation zone, scouting every second for the enemy to appear, while on the nearby ocean warships restlessly scouted the depths of the sea with sonar to detect any kind of submarine activity. The security council of the United Nations had given out orders to go on the highest alertness level while their special commandos restlessly searched for the councilmembers of SEELE over the entire world, to eliminate them.

However, right now it was a waiting game for them, with the enemy not appearing yet.

There was also nothing they could do against the other threat that loomed over them. The mad Angel Lilith, being close to breaking her bondings and destroying all of mankind. Everyone was well aware that their only chance to survive her -namely allowing Adam to battle her- was maybe as great a risk as her incinerating the world.

Inside the geofront, everyone was busy as well.

All of the secondary entrances, shafts and openings had been sealed with bakkelite and steel walls, while thick blast gates would close the train and road entrances to slow down possible intruders. The road access -hard to actually defend- was specially prepared and the device "B" was installed and ready. The train tunnel was set up as a huge blockade, filled with fortified machinegun enplacements and anti-armor guns, numerous gates seperating the various sections of the tunnel.

The pilots were on standby all the time and that meant that they were wearing their plugsuits all the time to not lose any time in case of emergency. It wasn't the most comfortable solution, but they didn't complain because of the seriousness of the situation. At least they could take it off while sleeping, being allowed to wear their undergarments for this.

All of the NERV personell was now armed with handguns while being on duty, while soldiers guarded the more sensible sections of the headquarters. Inside the geofront, a makeshift camp of the army had been errected for the guarding soldiers. The defense systems of the city were checked constantly, them obviously being a big asset in a coming battle.

Right at the moment, the Units 00 and 02 were put through the last stages of the emergency plan. Ritsuko and Maya watched the graphs carefully, while waiting if the Evangelions would react in any way to the additions they had installed. After how Unit-01 had bursted off its armour after eating the S² of the 14th Angel, they didn't want to risk anything. Sure, the S² they had gathered from inside Mayumi and from Rei's last body were not as big as the one from the 14th Angel, but that didn't mean anything, after seeing the power of even the smallest Angels.

"Looks good right now. The S² seem to be small enough to not cause any trouble... Ok, let's connect them... " Ritsuko said, then looked to the communication window. "Shinji, Toji, Hikari! If something goes wrong, stop them from rampaging."

"Dr. Akagi, we are about to make the final connection!" Maya called to her, and they watched the screen, waiting what would happen next.

At first, nothing happened. But then suddenly the eyes of both units flared up, hot-white for Unit-02, angry-yellow for Unit-00. Both units seemed to suffer a seizure, only the restraints stopping them from trashing around, their screams silenced by their mouth guards. The restrains groaned under the pressure and everyone hoped that it wouldn't mean anything.

Then finally, Unit-02 seemed to calm down, the fire in its four eyes dying, returning to a peaceful state.

However, Unit-00 didn't seem to want to calm down, its mouth guard splintering and a roar of anger escaping!

"This is not good! Stand by! The restrains won't hold for long!" Maya said, while hectically checking the gauges. "Unit-00 is drawing power from the S²! It tries to break free!"

Ritsuko clamly stood up. She had a suspiction what was going on, and that she would be the only one who could prevent lots of damage and an out-of-order EVA. "I know what is wrong. I'll deal with this now, expect me back in some minutes."

Before anyone could say anything, Ritsuko had already left, leaving through the door that led to the catwalk in the cage. It was too late to stop her and everyone felt that Ritsuko was inviting her own demise by walking into a cage with a border-berserk Evangelion. They could see but not hear her through the observation window when she approached the EVA, which tried to get free of its restraints. It seemed to everyone that she was completely fearless.

That was a mask, Ritsuko was almost scared to the point of soiling herself. Looking at the huge EVA, she gathered her courage together. She knew it was a risky gamble and hoped that she was right. **"DAMN! STOP IT!"** she screamed as loud as she could.

That obviously was loud enough to get the EVA's attention. It stopped trashing, and looked down to her. Ritsuko tried to not look nervous, but felt that she failed miserably while the hot-yellow eye stared at her. It was almost as if Unit-00 was at a loss what it should do next. Then, finally, the eye lost its glow and the EVA became inactive.

_Thank you, mother... _Ritsuko thought in relief, thankful that her mother had decided to give peace.

Walking back inside, she was confronted with the astonished faces of her co-workers. She knew exactly what they were wondering right at the moment, but was not ready to reveal that secret to anyone else. "You can ask as much as you want, I won't tell you."

After some seconds, most of them pretended to not have seen anything and returned to work. Maya however still looked questioning to her superior, mentor, girlfriend and future lover. Ritsuko knew that Maya still wanted an answer. "Sorry, but I'm not ready to reaveal that. It is very personal..."

Maya took a deep breath. "I... understand. I hope with time you feel comfortable enough to share this secret." She was a bit disappointed, but then again she couldn't fault Ritsuko for wanting to keep some personal things secret.

After all, everyone needed to have personal secrets.

* * *

_...that night..._

Shinji looked blankly at the ceiling, while holding Rei. He couldn't sleep. And judging by how Rei was holding on him, she couldn't either. The small, bare room also didn't help either to ease him to sleep. Apart from the bed, it just contained a toilet and a seperated shower cell. It wasn't much more than a ready-room for the pilots.

At least they'd been allowed to take off the plugsuit and sleep in their undergarments. Wearing that thing the entire time was a bitch. Not that it wasn't a good fit -definitely better than the old ones- but it made things like bathroom breaks unneccassarily complicated.

Shaking his head, his attention turned to Rei. Rei's presence in his room hadn't been been originally planned when they'd been given these rooms. Each pilot had gotten his or her own room. However, last night, while he'd been unable to return to sleep after waking up from a nightmare with no memory what had horrified him so much, she'd silently walked in and slipped under the blankets with him. She'd had a nightmare herself and said she needed him close to herself right now.

Following that, one thing had led to another... and afterwards both of them had slept well. So well that they were woken when Misato had checked at the morning why he and Rei weren't reporting back on duty. Thankfully she didn't make a drama of the whole thing, saying that she could hardly forbid it when they had to fear the end of the world. She had only reminded them to be more punctual next time.

Shinji couldn't help but to be impressed how calmly Misato was taking the whole situation. But maybe after so many Angel attacks, they'd become used to life-or-death situations? He certainly had. After all, while he was nervous, he didn't go any longer into a panic like he had during his first battle.

_I wouldn't have believed a year ago that I would become so courageous... Fighting for mankind's survival... Sounds almost cheesy..._ he thought.

The worst thing for him wasn't the fact that they were going to be attacked. Also not that the enemy this time would be fellow humans. No, what was getting to him was all the waiting. He wasn't that great at waiting. Even Asuka, who was right now being busy with grieving Tabris, had learned some patience. Not that he was impatient like Asuka had been, but waiting was making him tense up

Thinking of Asuka changing, he himself had also changed a lot.

When he'd come to Tokyo-3, he'd been teenaged kid like all the others. He lived his life, went to school, had friends and gossiped about girls. He'd totally pushed aside any issues he had with his father and just wanted to enjoy life. No pressure, no responsibilities and certainly he hadn't been the heroic type. He'd said 'live and let live' and had been content with it.

_Yeah, and then that all changed one day when I was confronted with a huge monster, _he thought sarcastically.

Being forced to fight for the survival of mankind had forced him to mature much faster than expected from any other teenager. The huge responsibility on his shoulders had taught him to be very serious and make hard decisions. Also, after facing these nightmares, there wasn't much left that could shaken him. He'd been forced to finally face his insecurities concerning his father, had found the mother he'd thought lost and came together with the girl who he knew would stay at his side for the rest of his life. Yes, Rei especially had changed him. It felt like she had been a missing part that now completed him.

Looking to Rei, Shinji felt her uneasiness with being unable to go to sleep. _I wonder what she is thinking right now? _he wondered.

Rei actually was thinking about about herself, Shinji and how she'd changed.

Last night she'd woken up from an especially bad nightmare. Most details had fled her, but the few scraps that remained had been horrible enough. She'd been disturbed enough to move to Shinji's room, even ignoring that she was wearing only a bra and a pair of panties while moving along the corridor, slipping under the covers with him. It had the desired effect of calming her down and after a very nice seesion of love-making, they'd both found peaceful sleep.

She wouldn't have believed a year ago how fulfilled her life would become. Actually, she wouldn't have been even capable of imagining something like that. A year ago she hadn't been alive, she'd merely existed. A sad and empty existence devoid of all the things that give a person true life. Locked into the limited world created by the Commander where only things useful to him existed, every emotion burried deep within her.

_And then he came and gave back what had been taken from me..._ Rei's pulse quickened a little when thinking about Shinji.

Unlike others, he'd shown true concern for her as a person, caring for her well-being. He'd been very patient while slowly coaxing her to come out of her shell and re-discover what it meant to actually live. He'd taught her everything, explainded everything and defended her honor when it was needed. And over time, she'd discovered that they both desire each other in a very deep way. Rei Ayanami now was an alive and happy teenage girl, a stark contrast to the merely existing drone from a year ago.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she felt Shinji's hand on her butt. _Mhhh, Shinji surely knows how t-_ Her thought stopped when his hand slipped under her panties, then a finger gently travelled down the cleft of her butt, until it reached her prvate area, teasing her with feather-like touches.

"Shinji..." she managed to get out while this sweet torture continued.

Shinji chuckled. He'd decided that both of them wouldn't be able to sleep, unless they'd make sure to be properly exhausted. And after all, there were wonderful ways to do so that would also distract them from their current situation. "You want me to stop this?" he teased.

"No...B-but... Not in our...undergarments..."

Shinji was taken aback for a second, before realizing that Rei was thinking practically, as it would be hard to get replacements. He had to smile. Even when being ready for love-making, she still had a clear mind.

o

Sitting on his bed, Toji wondered what was wrong with him. He simply was unable to find sleep. Maybe still an after-effect of the nightmare he'd had the previous night? The picture of himself in a wheelchair, one leg missing, had been really scary. Yes, that was it. And unlike Shinji and Rei (he of course had heard the gossip) he could not use_ their _method to get some sleep. For one he wasn't sure if Hikari would like the idea and also Mrs. Horaki would wring his neck should they actually do it.

Sometimes he wondered if he really deserved Hikari. She sometimes really acted like the 'better half'. He was still thankful that Shinji had encouraged him to not be intimidated by her steeled exteritor back then. Without Shinji he propably would've never gotten the courage to get closer to her.

She had always projected the picture of the strict and unreachable girl, so how could he have known that she actually was interested it getting him known better? And everything they'd went through in the recent months had proven that this was more than just a mere teenage crush. The hardships had proven that they cared for each other on a deeper level.

_Good thing that we take our time... Otherwise it would cheapen the whole experience..._

His thoughts were interrupted when the door slid open. Looking up, he froze, when he saw Hikari entering. She was just wearing her bra and a pair of panties, carrying her plugsuit under her arm.

Toji gulped. He'd never before seen her in so little (granted, there was that time with the naked test, but he'd made sure to not look at her). Her plugsuit really didn't hide much of her well-formed body. Then he finally caught himself staring at her and hastily looked up to meet her eyes. She did look unsure.

"Uh...hello...?" _Great way, Toji! Just make yourself look like a total idiot..._

Then he noticed that she was looking at him and he remembered that he was only wearing his boxers. She blushed slightly, then locked the door, dropped her suit on the floor and sat beside him on the bed. "Hikari...?"

"I couldn't sleep... All this waiting starts to wear me down..." She then learned closer to him and after a second of hesitation, he let her. She then continued "I don't want to be alone..." She underlined it by suddenly kissing him and his eyes went wide.

_Ok, he's surprised... now comes the hard part for both of us, _Hikari thought, while enjoying the lip-lock.

She sometimes couldn't believe how much they'd changed in the year since the Angel attacks had started. She'd been distant and unsecure, leading to projecting the image of the hard-ass class rep. And now here she was, half-naked with the boy she'd feelings for. Toji had changed as well. Back then, he'd been shying away from responsibility and was difficult to approach. And now he'd matured a lot and she liked the person Toji had become (not that she'd disliked the old one, it was just better now).

Finally releasing the lip-lock, Hikari decided to get over with it now. "Toji, I want to go all the way."

These simple words caused Toji to pale significantly. "Are you sure?... Not that I don't want to do this... but we promised..."

Damn! She'd totally forgotten about their promise to her mother that they wouldn't have sex until turning 16. But then she'd an idea. "Ok...no actual penetration... But it only means you can't stick it in there. There are other ways..." She blushed while saying this, couldn't believe that she was suggesting this.

Toji was floored as well, that proper Hikari was offering this. However, she obvioulsy wanted this, and he already felt his body agreeing with the idea. And he felt that since the world could end soon and they were fighting to save it, they'd earned the right for some mutual fooling around.

o

"Hello, Maya. Is everything all right?"

Maya gulped, when she saw Ritsuko locking the door of her room behind her. She'd been about to get some sleep, when suddenly her lover had walked in. Maya had no idea how to react to this, although the dirty part of her mind suggested that Ritsuko was here for several things that were better left unspoken.

Ritsuko chuckled when seeing that Maya couldn't get out a word. "Oh, cut got your tongue?" It was a personal joke of theirs. Considering the number of cat-themed things in Ritsuko's office, it had been an unannounced competition for them to use figures of speech that include cats.

Ritsuko had to admit, she'd have never thought several months ago that she'd start a relationship with Maya, learn to actually love her and now arrive at doing to big step. The idea also that she was bi-sexual would have been unbelievable. However, now that she knew what she wanted, Ritsuko was much happier than she'd been in years, and even the possible end of the world wouldn't take this away from her.

Finally Maya managed to stammer "H-hello Rit-sko."

Finally Ritsuko took pity on the nervous woman and sat down beside her, waiting for her to calm down, while holding one of her hands. It took almost a minute, but finally Maya seemed capable of again holding a normal conversation.

"I bet you are curious why I'm here?" she asked Maya and the young woman blushed when noticing the teasing in Ritsuko's voice. Seeing this, Ritsuko finally decided to come to the point. "Come on, you know there can be only one reason why I visit you in the middle of the night..."

Maya still blushed, but looked a little more confident. "Yes... but that comes all of a sudden... I know were are already kissing and fondling... I thought you wanted to take your time?"

"I planned to do so. But you have to admit that the prospect of the world ending is a good motivator to get my priorities straight... And I decided to it now instead of later possibly be sorry that I never did so..." She then gave Maya a smile. "And I know that you are a little minx who barely manages to not try and have her way with me."

"No! I would never force you!... I want you to enjoy it as well."

Maya had watched Ritsuko change over the months. The formerly withdrawn and sarcastic woman had become more relaxed and had opened up, especially to her once their relationship took a turn for the more private. Ritsuko was more happy now, and she herself was more happy as well. Ritsuko was role-model, friend and lover for her.

"I wouldn't force you, either. If you want us to do this, you have to do the first step..."

Maya knew that Ritsuko was waiting now for the fitting answer. Already aroused by the situation and the offer, she quickly decided that she didn't want to be sorry in case things would go wrong in the following days. So taking hold of Ritsuko, she deeply kissed her, to show Ritsuko that she wanted them to make love.

o

"What are you thinking?" Ryoji asked Misato, while they watched the status sceens. They'd drawn the night shift in the rotation scheudule. He'd noticed her being mentally absent, as if deep in thoughts over something.

"Wah?" Only then did she notice that Ryoji had spoken to her. "Oh, sorry... was somewhere else."

Ryoji shook his head. There were some things about Misato that would never change. "I noticed that... You had this dreamy and yet thoughtful look. What were you thinking about?"

"I was wondering what we should do after this whole mess is over and we managed to get out alive..." Misato put her flat hand on her mid-section, a gestue countless woman in all times have done. "I wonder if I'm mother material. Practicing with teenagers isn't the same thing..."

That was one of these remarkable changes until months ago, Misato would had been deathly afraid of the mere idea of becoming a mother. But ever since she'd mended her relationship with Ryoji on the day the 9th Angel had attacked, she'd changed. Changed for the better, she now knew. The Misato of old, who was driven by revenge against the Angels, yet unable to get her life into order, this Misato was no more. She'd made peace with her past, brought her life in order and even had found the courage to marry Royji, a feat that would have been impossible for the Misato of old.

Yes, she now definitely was mother-material.

Hower, Ryoji had of course changed during that time as well. Back then, he'd hidden himself behind a front of male bravado and carefreeness, trying to hide his inner conflicts. That day had been the start of a change within him as well. He'd managed to finally let go of the act and let the world see his true personality - a personality that was serious and yet attractive, especially for Misato. He now no longer was messing around. He'd become a steady and reliable man - exactly the kind of man that Misato liked.

"I say, after everything you've managed to achive and what we've went through, you're more than ready..." Ryoji told her supportively with a smile. "After this mess is over, I'll give my very best to give you a bundle of joy."

"Is this a man's promise?" Misato asked.

"You better believe it..." He then leaned forward to kiss her, when suddenly...

"Hey, cut that out!" Looking up, they saw Lt. Aoba looking to them in annoyance. "If you two want to make out, wait until your shift is over," he scolded them, before returning to check his monitors.

"Spoilsport..." Misato complained, then kissed Ryoji anyway, if only to annoy Aoba.

o

Sitting in the cockpit of the Trident, Mana looked at the screen where she could read the thoughts of the big machine's AI. Trident had had the strange idea that it shouldn't talk during the night, and so had switched off its voice module. As for Mana, she'd been unable to sleep and felt better when sitting in there, where she felt safe.

"Aren't you scared? I know that I am..." Mana asked, wondering of an AI was capable of fear. She knew that it was capable of being disturbed, as the aftermath of the 13th Angel had proven.

_"My construction makes me incapable of feeling fear... However, I am concerned about what could happen."_

Mana knew that this was Trident's way of saying that it indeed was scared. Then her thoughts darkened when she knew why she was scared, too. "We'll go into battle soon... I feel sick over the idea that I have to shoot on other people."

_"I do not want to make a judgement, since I originally was created as a machine of war against other humans. However, every loss of life in battle is a tragedy."_

Mana knew it meant that Trident hated the idea as well, but was helpless against it and tried not to think about it. "Thanks for understanding me... Everyone thinks that you are just a machine... but for me, you are one of my friends."

Trident didn't say anything for some seconds. Then... _"As I am glad to have you as my pilot... Shouldn't you go to bed now?"_

Mana had to admit, she was tired, and let out a yawn. "Maybe, I'll rest a little in here. The pilot seat is very comfortable..." Leaning back, her tiredness caught up with her, and sleep claimed her in mere minutes.

o

Sitting in front of a small shrine -even the geofront followed tradition after all- Kozo Fuyutsuki was in the midst of a prayer to the gods to give them fortune and strength to live through the gauntlet ahead of them. He'd never been a very religious man, and propably would never be, but he felt that he had to do this to calm down his nerves.

He knew that in the days to come he'd see lots of bloodshed, something that one in his age had hoped to never see again. Countless lives would be wasted for a mad goal, sent to get slaughtered like cattle. As if the death toll of Second Impact hadn't been bad enough.

_The foolishness and greed of a part of mankind will lead to even more bloodshed... _he thought bitterly.

However, for them there was little choice but to fight. They were now responsibile for three billon lives, so they had to fight to the last man. Unlike other wars, where there was lots of grey, this time the fronts were pretty clear.

He'd survived Second Impact, the following civil war in Japan and the final beat-down of the insurgents, attacks from super-powerful Angels and the wrath of a secret organization. Now he only had to live through the attempted annihilation of mankind. That was more than enough excitement for an entire life and he would have gladly, given the choice, lived without it.

Having finished his prayer, he got up. _I'm getting to old for this. Should we survive, I'll go into early retirement..._

o

The light was shut off in Gendo's office, except for his desk lamp, while he looked through status reports. He simply had been unable to find sleep, so he'd decided to do be useful and go through this stuff now, so that he would have time for more important things tomorrow. It also helped to distract him from the uneasy feeling that he'd never be able to make up to Shinji for his errors. His son had shown little willingness to make a step towards him and no one would blame him for it, since he'd every reason not to.

"Can't sleep?"

Looking up he saw that Yui's face had appeared on his computer screen. Her presence was a welcome distraction. "Yes... How did you know I would be here?"

"I didn't. But I remembered your habits and guessed that you'd be here, burrying yourself in paperwork," Yui explained, showing that some of the things she knew about him were still very true, especially now that he was slowly falling back to old habits.

"It helps me to move my thoughts to other things," he only answered.

Yui knew that he didn't mean the upcoming confrontation, but something more personal. She should have guessed that it would be on his mind. "You wonder if can ever reconciliate with Shinji, especially now that it's possible that you won't get another chance to do so. I wish I could give you an answer, but our son is as stubborn as both of us together."

"He takes a lot after you... surprising, considering you weren't around him for long..." He stopped when he saw he wince. He should have known that the topic of her now seeing Shinji growing up would be sensitive. "Sorry..."

Yui shook her head. "It reminded me how my carelessness caused him to grow up without me... I must actually thank you that you sent him to my brother. He made him the young man he now is. Speaking of that, why did you actually do it?"

Gendo scratched his head, trying to remember the exact reason why he'd sent Shinji to Kaldor all these years ago. "To be honest... I don't know. It was just a spontaneous decision, instead of sending him off to some teacher."

"Well, then we can be thankful for it. I don't want to imagine how he would've turned out spending his years with a desinterested teacher..." She then studied his features for a moment, noticing the serious signs of exhaustion. "But enough of this... you do look tired. Just leave this stuff for tomorrow, you won't help anyone when the crisis comes and you are practically asleep."

Gendo hesitated for a moment, but then admitted to himself that it would be pointless to argue with his wife. That they again were a speaking terms was already big progress from her being pissed at him all the time. He didn't want to risk angering her while their relationship was in such a delicate state.

He'd experienced first hand that it would be unwise to be on her bad side after she'd confronted him about the whole affair with Ritsuko. After a huge verbal trashing (and that in front of others!) she'd given him the cold shoulder for a week and he'd felt miserable over it. No chance he'd again incur her wrath on himself anytime soon.

He knew that even without a body, she could give him hell, so he decided to better call it a night.

* * *

_...some hours later, China..._

The whole base was on maximum alarm level. Ever since the force field had manifested around the water tank with the speciem, the glow that it emitted had intensified, making it absolutely impossible to see what was going on. They had no idea what exactly had happened, but whatever it was, it was right out of their hands. Even as interesting as it was, the only ones left in that part of the lab were guards with weapons. The Angel was doing nothing and they couldn't do anything against it.

However right at that moment, the Angel decided to finally end the stalemate.

**-Skliiiiiiiirrr-**

The guards jumped up, weapons ready, only to see that the tank had bursted and in its place now was a glowing egg. A glowing egg that was growing really fast, crushing everything in its path! The guards opened fire on it at once, only to see their bullets being flattened when hitting the AT-field, while the growing egg started to crush the interitor of the lab, denting the floor under its weight.

"Shit! Get out of here!" Fleeing, they heard the walls already groaning under the pressure, before breaking apart to make room for the growing egg. "Evacuate the bunker!" the lead guard shouted into his radio, while running to the elevator. "That thing grows out of control, crushing everything!"

Sirens howled, while everyone evacuated the bunker complex as fast as possible, all while the whole structure started the shake, witness of the destruction caused by the foreign object growing inside it. Trucks raced away, while gaps opened up in the ground, beams of light shooting out of them into the early dawn sky. Then it was as if a huge maw swallowed the ground, all of it vanishing into a big hole, revealing the now huge, glowing egg in the ruins of the bunker complex.

As fascinating as the sight was, no one had any wish to stay after this display of destruction, especially since it would surely alert the government, and they had no wish to be arrested and shot as traitors. Speeding away, they didn't see the huge egg splitting in two, revealing a giant of light lying there, hugging his legs. For a moment, the giant didn't move, then its eyes opened.

Sitting up, Adam was confused as to where he was. _**Where...? What happened...?**_ His last memory had been of great pain, of Lilith attacking him with all her power. Then there was nothing more, as if he'd simply stopped existing, only some confusing feelings.

Suddenly he felt the rush of memories from the energy of all his children having been returned to him. He held his head in pain when the events unfolded before him. The events that had happened after he'd been blown apart. _**What...have you done?**_ he thought horrified when he saw his children lashing out against mankind in their grief; as if mankind hadn't been already hurt enough.

And then to his astonishment he saw mankind prevailing. What they lacked in brawns they made up in brains, defeating one after the other of his children with strange artifical beings made from himself and Lilith. And while he felt grief that his children had died for a wrong cause, he also felt that despite their flaws, mankind was what the Ancient Ones would have wanted to come into being.

Then he came to the memories of his youngest, and sadness and anger filled him. _**Tabris...you didn't deserve this... I will make it up to you. I promise... **_And then he hissed when he saw the truth of why his children had died. _**Lilith...**_

Everything came back to her... Yet he had to admit that it had been his own weakness, which had allowed her to become such a horrible menace. He'd been seduced by her lies, so he also was partly at fault for what had happened. The horrible danger now looming over this world was due to his weakness.

His features hardened, looking to the east to where he knew the final battle would begin soon. He knew that there would be only one way to make up for all his fuck-ups: to finally off Lilith, before she could do even more damage to this world and murder its inhabitants in her madness. He hated the idea to destroy a life, but this time he was determined to not let Lilith get away. Coupled with his resolve was anger at how Lilith had betrayed him on a personal level. She'd played with his desire to not be alone.

_**Never again... This time I won't fall for your tricks... **_

Standing up, he started moving east, careful to not crush something beneath his feet. He still felt a little weak, something that hopefully would be gone when he'd confront Lilith. It was a battle he couldn't afford to lose.

o

"Our satellites have detected a huge energy discharge," Lt. Hyuga reported, when his display flared up. "Location is the mainland of China. Analysis confirms a blue pattern."

Misato grimaced, knowing that the final dance would begin soon with the appearance of the definitely last Angel, who ironically also was the first Angel. She looked to Lt. Aoba "Does our spy satellite have a fix on the Angel?"

"Yes. I'll put the picture on the main screen..."

Misato barely supressed a wince when she saw top-down picture of the glowing first Angel appearing on the main screen. In her mind's eye she saw the glowing giant trashing around in Antarctica, screaming in pain, before blowing apart. She shook her head to banish these pictures. Right now, this...thing, as loathe as she was to admit it, was their only hope to get rid of that mad Angel in their basement.

_Try to stay focused..._ she reminded herself.

"Trajectory is directly towards Tokyo-3. Based on the current speed, it will arrive here in 22 hours, shortly after 5 in the morning," Shigeru reported further, pulling Misato out of her thoughts.

She needed a clear head, with the shit being about to hit the fan. "I'll report it to the Commander. You contact the army and the UN. Tell them to not open fire on it. The last thing we need is a trail of useless destruction..."

* * *

_...22 hours later, Tokyo-3..._

Four Evengelion units were waiting at the edge of Tokyo-3 for the appearance of the first Angel, Adam. Four, since they wanted to keep Unit-01 as far away from the Angel as possible, fear big that even contact with the pure essence could cause a reaction with catastrophic results. No need to accidently blow up the world.

Thank all goodness that up to now the Angel had remained totally peaceful and had even made an efford to avoid causing damage (this was truely something new). That the army had managed to hold trigger-happy commanders under control in order to prevent a needless devastation didn't hurt, either. It surely wouldn't do them good to attack the only person who could help them to get rid of Lilith.

"Whatever you think, children... only attack if Adam attacks first. I know Tabris said that he'll come to help us... but he's still an Angel and so we have to be careful," Misato reminded them, while they waited for the first Angel to come into their line of sight.

"Hey! Kaworu had also been an Angel, so don't say this!" Asuka hissed.

Misato sighed. Ever since Kaworu's death, Asuka had become rather thin-skinned in that regard. While before she'd, like everyone else, felt that the Angels were all mad maniacs, she now insisted on that there are good and bad Angels. And Asuka felt that Adam would be the former. Also, Misato was concerned about her. Asuka had stated pretty much that she wanted revenge on the ones that had sent Kaworu to his death, them specifically since she had to admit that Lilith was outside of her influence. Revenge was not a good thing to have on your mind when in battle, but there was little they could do right now.

"All right... but now concentrate on your job." No need to have another irritated pilot, with Shinji already disappointed after being told he'd sit out this one. "The Angel sould appear any second." That weren't empty words, since right at that moment, Adam appeared from behind a hill and the pilots held their weapons ready, but didn't attack, waiting for what the Angel would do.

On the other hand, Adam also didn't really know what to do. All his knowledge hadn't prepared him for what he should say, now that he was confronted with these four. He knew that he had to convince them that he was not there to cause trouble.

_**I was made to seed a world, not to be a diplomat,**_he thought, then decided to simply talk to them would be for the best.

"What is he waiting for?" Hikari wondered, when after a minute the Angel still hadn't moved a bit, as if unsure himself, what to do.

_**"Greetings, humans. I am not here to fight. I am here to help."**_

"Häh? What the hell are we supposed to say?" Asuka wondered. Despite her anger, this situation was simply too strange for her.

"How should I know? I'm an EVA pilot, not a diplomat," Toji said, having also no idea how to react. They were trained to fight, not to hold negociations.

Thankfully, Misato right then effectively killed the argument. "You won't do anything. Rei, activate your external speaker, the Commander wants talk with him over the connection," she commanded, ending this silly argument.

**"Adam, bringer of Second Impact. What are your intentions?"** The Commander didn't waste time with being nice and came right to the point.

Adam winced when being reminded of that of all things. Ok, it wasn't actually his fault, but the thought that his destruction had caused such a high death-toll still lasted heavily on him. _**"My intentions are simple. I have come to help you remove Lilith from this world forever."**_

**"What can you give as as proof of your claim?"** Gendo asked further, wanting to be sure.

_**"Nothing. I can only give my word and hope that this is enough for you."**_

"Commander!" Lt. Ibuki suddenly interrupted him. "The energy output in Terminal Dogma is increasing rapidly. Another ten minutes and Lilith will be free!"

Gendo's mood darkened considerably. This meant that there was little choice. Deny or delay Adam, and get destroyed by Lilith. Allow Adam entrance and risk the possible destruction of mankind. In this case, the latter evil was the smaller one. "Order to the pilots, they are to return to the shafts to return to the geofront."

Then he turned his attention to Adam. **"We have little choice. So we will hold you to your word."**

_**"I know you have little reason to trust me, and my children caused you much grief. I can only try and prove to you, that unlike them, I mean no harm to you..."**_

o

Walking silently down the huge tunnel to the heavily damaged gate that would lead him to the cause of this whole mess, Adam was deep in thoughts. He had felt how everyone near by, through all the walls, had radiated fear or hate towards him. It pained him how the actions of Lilith and his children had caused so much pain, that mankind now mostly thought of him as evil incarnate.

The guardians were supposed to be a sign of hope, once they would reveal themselves to the population of the world when they were ready to meet the Ancient Ones, and now for mankind the guardians had become a sign of death and destruction. A complete disaster.

_**And all of it comes back to Lilith... **_he thought darkly.

He had to finish it, or Lilith would start the madness anew, would propably continue to do so until the sun would swallow the planet in billions of years. He'd caused this mess in the first place, so he'd end it as well. Although he felt a little uneasy with the idea of offing Lilith, she'd done more than enough, also on a personal level, to deserve it.

_**I can feel her... Her power is great... It will be a hard battle...**_

Finally reaching the wreckage of the gate, he effordlessly shoved it open, to reveal the glowing Lilith being busy with trying to rip out the nails that held her on the huge cross. With one final groan, the nails popped out and her wounds healed.

_**"Free! Finally free! Now I..."**_ Sensing something, she looked up and stopped when seeing someone she'd though she'd never see again. _**"Adam!"**_

_**"Oh yes... You thought you'd gotten rid of me? I won't allow you to do anymore damage..."**_

Lilith snorted _**"Oh yes? Make me!"**_

Then suddenly she attacked Adam, whole grabbed her hands to stop her. Energies started to discharge and the LCL evaporated, filling the huge chamber with an orange mist. Neither of the two was yet able to overpower the other in this contest of strength, while the ground started to tremble.

* * *

_...at the moment of dawn..._

Tokyo-3 looked totally peaceful when the sun started to peek over the horizon. Nothing hinted at the forces that were fighting each other deep below the surface for the future of the world. However, this dawn would also be the last to greet Tokyo-3 as it was, since another batter was about to start. A battle between two fractions of mankind, one side to try and force Armageddon, one one to prevent it at all cost.

And right now it was starting.

"Radar and satellite scouting shows advance of massive air-fleets!" Lt. Aoba shouted, when suddenly the military had found the enemy. "UN and NATO forces report two air fleets advancing; north-west from Siberia and south-west from Indochina! ETA 15 minutes!"

"Military scouts report composition to be one third fighters and bombers and two thirds transport snd dropship planes," Lt. Hyuga added.

"The air force, army and navy will try to stop them from breaking through the defense line, but the sheer numbers are against them! It will come to a battle!"

Gendo took these news calmly, he knew that this would have happened. Now they could do only one thing: build a strong defense and hope that it would be enough to hold off their enemies. Failure would mean the end of mankind and everything that was. Failure was no option.

The battle for the world was about to start.

_**...to be concluded in the three-part finale "Adam and Lilith"**_

_**Next up, part 1 of the finale: "Chaos in the Computer"**_


	40. Adam and Lilith Part 1

I will say these things in advance: I have absolutely no rights to NGE, but you should have already known that.

Finally decided to clean up the disclaimers, in case you wonder where the usual disclaimer has went.

Finally the battle for the world is on. The final confrontation for the future of mankind. However, in this part, the regular battle is the centerpiece, so expect lots of violence. The next part will have other horrors.

NOTE: I have started to re-compile the story in pdf-format with better formatting and lots of pictures (a number I had to tweak). I'll send the first and second book (which cover the first 28 chapters) to everyone interested.

Also, I have written an interesting insight on how I created this story at the end of this chapter.

After you've read the chapter, **please Review!** Please tell me your opinion. I promise to answer every review I get.

* * *

**Chapter 39: Adam and Lilith- Part 1 -Chaos in the Computer**

"Activate the defense systems of Tokyo-3," Gendo ordered.

He knew that the firepower of the defense systems would be a great help to the army and propably was one of the more important factors in the upcoming battle. And every factor in their favor was a contribution to saving mankind. Actually ironical that the very weapons that SEELE's budget helped to build were now used against them.

"Yes, Sir!" Lt. Hyuga confirmed and pushed the button to activate the defenses of the city.

However, that was exactly the wrong thing to do. Destructive code burried deep within the MAGI, planted there by SEELE during the time of their very creation, was activated by the combination of the information of the attack on Tokyo-3 by regular forces and the request to arm the defense systems. It executed the one thing it was made for; making contact through a pre-defined secure line to download a certain file.

"Major, the MAGI are downloading something from an outside source!" Lt. Aoba reported, when suddenly his screen showed communication activity.

"Cut it off!" Misato ordered hectically, wondering what was happening. She knew too little about computers to understand it completely, only that it was very bad.

"Too late, it has already finished... It is executing the file!" Franatically, he checked his screen. "The whole network is freaking out!"

Suddenly the lights flickered for some seconds, while Dr. Akagi hectically checked her screens which showed the status of the MAGI, trying to find out what was going on with the three computers. "All three MAGI are going haywire. They've locked the Evangelion catapults and de-activated all defense systems!"

"Then shut them off and switch to the emergency computers! We need these systems!" Fuyutsuki called to her. There was no doubt for him who had caused this mess.

"We can't!" Ritsuko replied helplessly. "If we simply shut them off now, or isolate them from the network, while they are still actively blocking these systems, everything will lock up and even the emergency computers will need hours to undo it. We have to..." She stopped when she saw the MAGI accessing the main screen.

A message appeared on the otherwise dark screen:

**It is not in our interest, that you activate your defenses. Therefore we have sent someone to deal with this problem. Have a nice day.**

**-SEELE**

Then suddenly the screen was awash with static, before going dark again and a face appeared on the screen, somewhat resembling the way Yui had appeared on the main screen. Ritsuko stood there, frozen, barely managing to get out "Please tell me this is not coming from Unit-00."

Shigeru shook his head, checking the screen data. "No, there is no connection at all to the EVA. Instead, this is coming from the MAGI. It's an amalgam of the three personalities Melchior, Casper and Balthasar."

"The diagnosis program says that it's the result of a computer virus," Maya called from her station, while feverishly trying to find out more. But it was as if the MAGI had no desire to let her. Instead, her meddling caused the Naoko on the screen to open her eyes and look at them all in what seemed to be pure despise.

"Never again will I allow you to deceive me! You all did this to me, so you'll all pay as well!" the fake-Naoko ranted, then she seemed to look angry to Ritsuko. "My own daughter put the knife into my back!"

"What...?" Ritsuko wondered what the hell this virus had done to the MAGI.

"Do not act innocent. You are totally useless and are where you are now by sleeping your way to the top with Gendo," fake-Naoko accused her without blinking an eye. "Unruly children are to be punished, and that is what I'm doing right now. Not that I'll blow you all up, that's too fast and you'd learn nothing..."

Ritsuko was shocked that SEELE had not only decided to use her mother's artificial personality as a weapon but also implanted it with things to cause the maximum pschological pain and cruelty. What this fake had accused her of hurt a lot. And it enraged her how they dared to sully her mother's memory and legacy with this travesty.

"...was never appreciated, and now I know, why..."

The rantings went on and Ritsuko looked helplessly up to the command level, where the Commander also looked like he had no idea what to do. Gendo had no idea that SEELE could do something like that and he said what everyone already knew.

"The MAGI.. have become our enemies."

* * *

_...mere minutes later..._

"NERV reports that the enemy managed to sabotage the computers for the defense systems and the catapults. So for now it is up to us to make sure that the enemy is kept away from entering the geofront," the commander of the defense troops said to his second-in-command, while standing in front of his mobile HQ, checking the horizon with his binoculars.

"What is the report from the fleet?" he asked into the van.

"The enemy has breached our narval blockade, Sir! They are still advancing despite heavy air combat and will arrive in less than a minute!" the soldier at the radio reported, while listening to the latest reports.

The commander acknowledged this, then waited. Finally, he saw tiny, dark specks appearing on the horizon over the lake that bordered Tokyo-3. The enemy had arrived, and now it was up to them to stop them from literally starting judgement day. "Order to all units! Condition is green!" he commanded, which meant that the battle was on.

All AA-batteries started firing their deadly, heat-seeking rockets towards the enemy planes in salvos, dozens of them errupting in fireballs when hit. But their number was simply too big that this would cause serious damage, especially since the fighters were flying in front, diverting the fire from the much more important air-drop transport planes.

With thousands of hostile planes, the AA-fire was mostly a drop of water on a hot stone.

Instead of breaking formation, the enemy struck back when their bombers launched laser-guided bombs, which followed the trails of the AA-missiles back to their sources. Loud explosions littered to mountain sides around Tokyo-3, when the explosions ripped apart the anti-aircraft batteries, crippling the air defense of the city, whose build-in defenses weren't working at the moment.

"Over 90 percent of the AA units were destroyed," was reported to the commander, who looked darkly at these news.

"They want a war, they get one..." They still had their air force to deal with these bastards, after all. And here, the numbers were much more even.

And indeed, their own air-superiority fighters were already arriving over Tokyo-3, to start the battle against the enemy air-fleet, while from between the trees, up to now hidden helicopters and hover-copters rose up to join the battle, hoping that this gave them the element of surprise.

The sky over Tokyo-3 looked from a distance as if filled by a huge insect swarm.

Each side was first firing off heat-seeking missiles while using counter-measures to protect themselves against the missiles of their enemy. The effect of the missiles was low, as less then a third hit their intended targets, with most of them explosing against the deployed baits, filling the sky with bright fireballs.

Like two swarms of mosquitos, the the air-fleets attacked each other then.

Their heavy machine cannons sprew deadly salvos, lightening up the sky with their fiery-red trails, perforating enemy machines like swiss cheese, before the leaking fuel would ignite and cause the ammunition to explode, resulting in a fireball. The huge number of enemies brought all pilots to their limits, and more than one crashed into another plane.

It was literally raining debris over Tokyo-3 with the huge number of destroyed planes.

Hovering just over the buildings of the city, the hover-copers were busy with trying to pick their targets, the confusion making it difficult to hold apart friend and foe. Also all to often they had to dive between the buildings, since as slow as they were, they were like sitting ducks, ready to get slaughtered by the far faster fighters of the enemy. And all too often, exactly than happened, the burning wrecks crashing down into the empty streets.

Watching the air-battle through his binoculars, the commander cursed, when he saw that the transport planes were starting to air-drop their troops. The huge boxes smashed to the ground, then opened up at once, allowing the enemy, complete with all their heavy equipment, to swarm into the city and the surrounding area to initiate the battle on the ground.

"Open fire on the enemy forces at the city limits!" he ordered.

Mobile artillery placements at once opened fire on the enemy forces on the other side of the city. Their shells flew over the entire city, before plastering the outer districts in the south with explosions, ripping apart all soldiers in the vicinity. However, it were simply too many and when they started to file into the city itself, the artillery had to cease fire, or they would've hit their own men.

Instead it now escalated to a ground battle from heavy armour down to single soldiers. They fought for every meter against their restly enemy. The streets of Tokyo-3 were quickly littered with wrecked hardware, dead bodies and lots of blood.

Each side faught with determination; the defenders to not let these people win and destroy the world, the attackers all wound up in a religious frenzy that they would end up in paradise after fulfilling their mission for their masters (that was what SEELE had explained to them Third Impact would give them). Bitterness and hate burned in the hearts of both sides in battle; both sides feeling that they had a valid reason to fight to the death.

Suddenly several bombers made a dive for the city, before they ejected several really mean looking bombs. One defending tank driver realized what was falling down. "Bunker busters!" But it was too late, when one impacted beside his tank, ripping it apart like a toy.

Several horrible explosions shook the city, one very close to the highway. The commander was alarmed when seeing that one. "That's too close for my taste. If that bunker buster has hit the gate to the road access, the enemy can enter without a hassle."

He hoped it wasn't as bad as he feared, since he didn't want to solely put his trust on device "B" to stop an enemy advance into the geofront.

o

Indeed, it was exactly as bad as he feared. The enemy had managed to blow up the armoured gate of the road access to the geofront with their bunker busters, and the soldiers were now advancing through the tunnel towards the geofront itself. It was deathly silent -a sharp contrast to the loud and destructive battle raging above them- and the only thing they heard were their own steps. No kind of resistance, no traps and no more blockades oin the way. Nothing at all.

This of course only made them more nervous than they already were.

Finally they reached the exit of the tunnel, which lead to the spiralling road that would lead down into the geofront itself. They also had a free view of the NERV pyramid from there. Slowly they regained their cool. Now that they were this far, surely nothing could go wrong for them.

However, nothing could have been further away from the truth.

When the first man passed the first three meters between the tunnel and the ramp, he cluelessly passed a photoeye, interrupting the invisible beam. This little action was enough to activate the armed device "B". For a fraction of a second, everything was bathed in white light. Then...

**-ZAAAAABOOOOOOOOMMMM-**

In a horrible explosion, 30 meters of the road directly outside of the tunnel were blasted apart! Soldiers were either ripped to shreds by the the explosion, killed by flying debris or were blown over the edge and fell to their death. The survivors tried to flee back down the tunnel, but then the ceiling came down and burried them under meters of earth and concrete.

The few survivors from the back end could only look at the smoking blockade that the collapsed part of the tunnel was. It effectively sealed the tunnel and had made their advance a failure.

o

The battle of Tokyo-3 raged on.

On the road that bordered the lake, a tank battalion of the UN was taking an enemy forification on the other side of the lake under fire, their ordinance ripping soldiers to pieces and ripping huge holes into the ground. The answer promptly came in form of anti-tank missiles shooting over the lake, engulfing numerous tanks in hot fireballs.

But the tanks pressed on, and their grenades killed most of the soldiers, only to suddenly find them selves in the middle of a rain of rockets.

A former UN unit of rocket launchers was now firing at them, wiping them out in no time, before turning to aim at other targets. Other than the defenders, they didn't care that their own soldiers were hit as well, while firing rockets into the city.

Their rockets impacted between the buildings, causing several structures to topple and crash down on the soldiers below, burrying them under a twisted mass of steel and concrete. The rockets didn't discriminate and killed friend and foe alike in the most horrible ways possible, ripping a tench of destruction into the already heavily damaged city.

However the retribution would come at once.

Out of a tunnel at the far side of the lake, some locomotives pulled a Class-12 heavy mortar gun. It was the same the class of weapon that had been used without any effect against the 5th Angel, Ramiel. However, unlike Ramiel, these enemies were human and therefore had no AT-field, making the situation totally different.

In one mighty burst, the weapon fired its energy-encased shell at the launchers on the far side of the lake. As soon as the shell impacted, a huge, white-hot fireball swallowed all of the launchers, pulverising weapons and enemy soldiers alike in less than a second in a demonstration of sheer destructive power.

But as destructive as it was, the mortar was a long-range weapon.

An enemy tank platoon appeared on the nearby road and at once took the mortar under fire, their grenades causing the mighty weapon to break down and explode when the remaining shells ignited, causing a chain reaction that totally destroyed the weapon. They were about to continue towards the city, when they saw something huge speeding over the surface of the lake towards them. At once they opened fire on the huge machine.

On board of the Trident, Mana didn't care about the grenades of the tanks impacting in the water under her, while advancing towards her targets. She knew that what she was doing would haunt her, but there was little choice. It was kill or to be killed, there was no inbetween.

"Mana, take these tanks out quickly. You can't allow them to reach the city!" Major Hanson reminded her over the radio from his bunker deep under Tokyo-3. The situation was dire enough that he didn't care about the damages that Trident received in battle.

_What does he think I'm doing?_ Mana wondered, before pulling the lever to fold out Trident's legs. The huge machine seemed to make a frog's jump, landing at the lake shore directly in front of the enemy tanks. Mana didn't hesitate to pull the trigger and her huge main gun showed its might, letting the tanks vanish in a sea of flames.

Right now Mana was concentrating on the battle. But after it was over, she'd fall into her bed and cry herself to sleep, grieving that today she for sure had lost her innocence.

Inside his bunker, Hanson knew that Mana would never be the same after this day. He hated himself that he had to make her to it, but there had been little chocie and she herself had agreed to do it, knowing what it would cost her. She was in for a shell shock after the battle, and they had to try and lessen the blow.

Suddenly the bunker shuddered. "Report, what was that?"

"An explosion at the entrance to the railway tunnel near our bunker. The enemy must have managed to gain access to it," one private reported, while checking the reports from the various units.

Hanson knew what this meant. "Fuck..."

o

Indeed, pioneer troops of the enemy had managed to break open the doors blocking the access point to the railway tunnel. However, they then were faced with the next obstacle, the huge blast gate to the tunnel itself, which was tightly locked with no way to open it from the outside. After some inspections, the report came in to the leading officer.

"It to no avail. They've locked and sealed the gate, Captain. We can't open it manually," the Sargent reported to his officer.

The Captain had expected this; after all their enemy wasn't stupid. However, they were prepared and equipped for this case. In this case the solution was brute force in order to reach the geofront. "Order your men to set charges to blow open the gate, then advance with the flamethrowers!"

At once the soldiers started to set the charges.

Inside the tunnels, the soldiers manning the first blockade directly behind the first gate were nervous, when hearing the enemy on the other side of the metal wall that seperated them. They had no illusions, they knew in a matter of moments, the protectice gate would be no more and they'd have to fight for their survival.

"Do you hear that?" one of them asked his comerade at the machine gun, when suddenly all of the noise on the other side of the gate died.

His comerade was sweating heavily, holding the machine gun in a death grip. "Yes...silence... Get ready for..." He was unable to finish the sentence.

**-BOOOOOOOOOOOMMMM-**

A big explosion ripped open the gate, debris falling down and pipes and cables turned into a twisted mess. And before the soldiers had a second to react, they were greeted by a wall of flames coming through the smoke, consuming them without giving most of them the second to scream in panic. The ones that weren't dead at once however, did scream -a lot.

Outside, one soldier was busy with sprewing flames inside, to wipe out the initial opposition at the entrance. No need to storm in only to get gunned down at once, without making any progress. He didn't stop until there were not more screams coming from the inside, then looked to his Sargent for new orders, who in return looked to his Captain.

"Ok, that should be enough! Sargent, advance together with the others and expect casulties! Don't let this stop you! Use all means to clear the way!" the Captain ordered.

At once the soldiers stormed into the tunnel, using their flamethrowers to attack all opposition. The defenders tried to hold them back bravely, but in the segmented tunnel, they had little chance against the wall of flames the intruders created to clear out the narrow tube of all opposition, while they advanced to the next blast gate, to blow this one open as well.

Nothing would stop them now.

o

Botan Yamamoto knew that there was a battle raging on the surface, but there was little that he could do as a lowly crewman of the NERV security. And actually, he didn't care what exactly was going on, as long as he'd get out of it alive. Right now he was busy with guarding the gate to the Evangelion-wing, where the temporary quarters and the ready room of the pilots where located near to the Evangelion cages.

And to be honest, he found this to be a terribly boring job.

_Why are they so nervous? It's not that down here, we have to fear these soldiers coming this far..._ he silently ranted, while again adjusting the shoulder strap of his machine gun. Others were getting the action, and he was getting bored guarding a part of the base that no enemy could reach anyway.

"What would I give for some action..." He grumbled, when suddenly someone seized him from behind by surprise, preventing him from getting a hold on his gun!

"Hey, whammmpphh... grbblll-l-l-l-" His protest was silenced by first a hand over his mouth, and then a knife cleanly slicing through his throat. He died a painful and slow death, gasping and bleeding out of his slit throat.

Private Nataka didn't care. Throwing the dying man to the ground, he called his four comerades to come.

They felt that NERV and the army had been really naive to believe that SEELE wouldn't have their own operatives in the JSSDF. They'd seperated from their troop at the best opportunity during their stay inside the geofront, and were now busy using all the duplicated codes and keycards to advance towards their goal: eliminating the Evangelion pilots.

The pilots could become a serious threat, SEELE knew that, so they had been chosen to come out of their sleeper status to eliminate this threat, before it would even arise. They'd already went over dead bodies for that, the poor schmuck right there had already been the fourth guard they'd killed. Which of course also meant that they had to hurry, since sooner or later, someone would find the bodies.

An bad luck struck right then.

They hurried away, when they heard voices and steps moving towards where they'd killed the last guard. They knew that now they would have to hurry with reaching their goal.

o

The situation on the bridge had not become any better.

The MAGI were still blocking all of their attempts to shift control to the backup computers in order to regain control of the EVA cage controls and the defense systems of Tokyo-3, without causing a total lock-up of these systems. The whole system architecture, which simply put too much trust into the MAGI, was now biting them into their asses, as if the fiasco with the 11th Angel hadn't taught them anything.

They'd risen all three computers out of their casing and right at the moment, Dr. Akagi was desperately working on the insides of one of the computers to find a way to outsmart the computer virus that had created this artificial Nakoko Akagi. She doubted that her mother could have forseen the mere possibility that the three aspects of her personality, which she had put into the computers, would be misused as a weapon.

Trying to stop the virus was more difficult than it sounded, since the artificial Naoko was continuing to plaster them, and especially Ritsuko, with accusions, while ranting that they'd never again manage to fool her. Ritsuko had resorted on putting in ear plugs, or she'd have been totally unable to concentrate on her work. The artificial personality in the distorted picture of her mother was really out to psychically hurt her.

Too bad that the plugs by now hurt in her ears and she'd to remove them to ease the pain, only to again be confronted with that voice. "...and you'll never fool me again, I'll make sure of that..." It was like an endless loop.

An endless loop that was starting to cause serious heart-ache for her, to see her mother's legacy ending like this...

Then, another voice stopped these rants suddenly. "By all what is holy, just shut up!" She knew this voice. Looking outside, she saw Yui's face on the screen beside the fake Naoko's, both looking hostile to each other. "I had to listen to your rantings the entire time, and I'm sick of it!" Yui hissed.

It was no wonder that Yui was pissed. She'd been forced to listen to this endless loop of bitching the entire time, and there was only so much of that which you could take, before even the most peaceful person would become axe-crazy. And she now felt ready for this, and since she lacked the hands to do so, verbal hits would have to do.

"You...you..." The fake Naoko seemed ready to explode. "You frigid bitch only are jealous that Gendo turned to me for sex after your icy ass was no longer available!"

Now Yui looked ready to breathe fire. "Icy Ass? You whore... desperate enough to seduce a fresh widower!"

Gendo tried to tune it out, while hiding behind his hands. He had no idea how SEELE got all this information, but he knew that after this crisis was over, he'd never again gain the same respect from his co-workers. Not after what these two on the main screen started to scream at each other in this virtual catfight.

_This is worse than hell... _he silently groaned, when fake-Naoko revealed another juicy detail that riled up Yui even more.

"Major!"

Looking up when hearing Lt. Aoba calling Major Kaji, he saw the Major approaching the communications officer. The Lieutenant looks were dark, obviously something bad had happened.

"Guard post four has been found dead with a slit throat!" Lt. Aoba hastily reported.

"Post four? That's close to the..." Misato froze when realising what it meant and then paled. "..close to the ready room of our pilots! Contact them!"

"I can't! The line is dead."

Gendo froze... and then saw Yui interrupting her shouting match to look at him for exactly two seconds. That was still more than enough to make the message clear. For a man who months ago hadn't cared at all, who'd convinced himself that the pain Shinji was enduring was a neccassary evil, he now knew very clearly that it was up to him to stop the worst from happening.

"Major, Mr. Kaji! With me, now! Fuyutsuki, you take over!" he barked, drawing his gun before running to the exit.

Ryoji and Misato didn't question him. They had the feeling that this time, the Commander was doing the right thing. So they took out their own weapons, while running after him, hoping that it was not too late yet.

o

The soldiers were nervous, they were the last defenders in the tunnel, before the advancing enemy would reach the geofront itself. A mere 200 meters away was the last blast door, and even this far away they could hear the enemy preparing to blow this one open as well.

"Ok, people, that's it. It's now up to us to stop these jokers from getting through," the Sargent in charge told his men, while they prepared to open fire as soon as the door is destroyed. "Give them plenty..."

**-BRRROOOOAAAAMMM-**

That was the door. At once they opened fire at the enemy, filling the air with lead.

"Damn it, the more we kill, the more come!" one of the soldiers manning the machine guns cursed, it was like a never-ending stream in this narrow tunnel.

They fired into the tunnel in sheer desperation, but nonetheless the attackers advanced meter for meter. Suddenly the light flickered, before shutting off completely, casting the tunnel in the red illumination from the flamethrowers of the enemy. It seemed that the constant heat had damaged the electrical system beyond repair.

"Damn it!" the Sargent growled, then saw the ammo train that was just arriving behind them. "Fuck, no! Go on reverse and get out of here, or you'll blow us all sky high!"

"We can't! The rail switch has no power," the driver reported, while stopping the train, obviously wishing to be somewhere else.

"Sargent!" one of the soldiers called. "Why don't we send the train to _them_?"

The Sargent needed a second, but then he realised that this was a good idea, since there was little else they could do. "Quick, clear the tracks!" The soldiers quickly pushed the sandbags aside, while the Sargent jammed the speed lever on full speed, before jumping off the accelerating train.

"Run for your lives!" he shouted and they all ran away towards the geofront.

The enemy soldiers saw in surprise the train speeding towards them, and thought it to be a desperate counter attack of the defenders. At once they pointed their flamethrowers on the train. Suddenly the intense heat ignited the ammunition on the train...

**-WWWAAAAMMMMMM-**

Everything vanished in a huge flash of light, the enemy soldiers ripped to shreds by the explosion, which caused part of the ceiling to come down, blocking the tunnel with debris and earth. Having barely escaped the fireball by reaching the geofront, the defenders looked at the blocked tunnel.

"They'll need at least three hours to get through that. Enough time for us," the Sargent said with statisfaction.

o

"All this waiting is driving me crazy," Asuka complained.

Not that she was alone with this, but she was the most vocal about it. They were still held back for when the real dance would begin and had to sit on their asses, doing nothing. Or in their case, standing around, since they otherwise feared that their legs would go numb.

And to make matters even worse, a stupid computer virus had made the computer go crazy. Even if they'd wanted to start, the catapults were locked, and so the only thing to do was to watch on the screenhow the battle was going -stuff that was pretty horrific and they by now no longer wanted to see.

After all they still had to wait for their turn to face a horrible battle.

"I know you would love to rip them to shreds, but right now we can't go anywhere," Shinji said, his patience starting to run thin. After all, he had his limits.

"Yeah, make this not worse than this already is," Toji added.

"Hrmph, you wouldn't understand anyway." Asuka then turned away. _You simply can't understand how such a loss feels..._ she silently added.

They were all concerned, this was more like bitch-Asuka than the better person she'd become recently. It seemed that the loss of Kaworu had hurt her deeply, and now she only wanted revenge. They feared that he hunger for revenge in the end would eat her whole, hurting only herself. Even worse was, that there was little they could do. They would fight, one way or another, and only Asuka herself could stop from crossing the line of no return.

Hikari shook her head when watching Asuka looking at the battle footage, trying to distract herself with these horrible pictures. _Asuka, I can only pray that you stop before it is too late, or you again lose all what you gained._

Suddenly the lights flickered and then went out, together with the screen, as if the power was cut. The guard at the door turned around to see what was going on outside, but as soon as the door opened...

**-Bratatatak- **"Arrrghh-h-h-hh-h" That was all she managed to get out, when she was greeted with a salvo as soon as the door was open. Mortally injured, her body fell to the floor, a pool of blood spreading under her. The pilots were frozen in shock, and then suddenly five soldiers stormed in, pointing their weapons at them.

"What the...?" Toji being so close to cold-blooded murder had made him speechless.

"Don't take it personal, kids. But SEELE has no use for interfering brats. And especially you..." the soldier pointed his gun to Shinji "..have to die first."

"No," Rei simply said, stepping between Shinji and the soldier, looking hard at the man. "You first have to go through me."

The soldier laughed to hide how much these red eyes disturbed him. "How cute, love to the death. Well, my bullets will go through you, so that's something you two can share." He raised his gun...

**-Blam!-**

Shinji was surprised to hear a shot despite the soldier not having shot yet. But then it became clear that it hadn't come from one of them, as suddenly one soldier fell to the floor, dead, with a bleeding wound in his head. The soldiers were turning around to fire at whoever had done that, and Shinji looked there as well. He'd expected a guard, but it instead was someone he hadn't expected.

It was his father.

Gendo Ikari looked as if he was ready to take on 100 men, seething in anger while running towards the soldiers, continuing shooting at them. They finally overcame their surprise and opened fire on him, but he rolled out of the way and his bullets hit their mark, killing two more of the soldiers, before his clip was empty.

But that didn't stop him, either.

It was as if Gendo Ikari had slipped into a Evangelion-like berserker rage, as if something had made his so mad, that it gave him lots of strength. A bullet hit his shoulder, going cleanly through it, but he didn't even seem to notice in his rage. Instead he threw his empy gun hard into the face of one of the two soldiers, before hitting the other hard into the gut. Ramming his knee into where his fist had just been, he grabbed the soldiers own knife, slamming it with full force into the man's chest.

"That's enough!" the last soldier hissed, aiming his gun a Gendo to kill him.

**-Bang!-**

But he had no chance to do so, when a bullet went through his head. Ryoji stood in the door, holding his gun and looking at the mess that Gendo had created. Then everyone noticed, that his injuries now seemed to catch up with him. Holding his bleeding shoulder, he fell to his knees.

"Commander!" Misato stormed in, seeing the dead soldiers and the injured Gendo. "Oh damn..."

Shinji was silent in shock, while Misato helped Gendo back to his feet and removed his jacket, to reveal his blood-shoaked shirt. One part of his shock was the sudden bloodbath, but another was his confusion over what just had happened. He'd never thought it possible for his father being such a man of action. And he wondered why he had done it, and the look of pure fury he had during it.

He got another surprise, when Gendo looked to him, pale, as if he'd went through something horrible. "Shinji... are you all right?"

_He...he asks me if I'm all right?_ Confused, he silently nodded.

Gendo looked relieved. He himself had a hard time to believe how seeing the soldier being about to shoot Shinji had made him react. Something that he'd burried over 11 years ago had come back to the surface. It was a protective nature he'd thought lost years ago. Mixed into it was guilt over how shabby he'd treated his son all these years. And this mixture had exploded when he'd seen these soldiers threatening Shinji with a gun.

He'd seen red.

He'd went berserk because of the one, most important thing that had made its full return in that moment. Something he'd forgotten up to then: he cared.

Shinji then again was surprised when seeing the look of relief on his father's face. Gendo then looked to Ryoji. "Escort them into the cage. They are safer inside their entry plugs, once they are inserted into the Evangelions."

Being herded away, Shinji barely saw Misato helping his father to get medical attention. He waited until they were in the elevator to the cage, before finally asking Ryoji: "Ryoji... I don't understand. My father...why...?"

Ryoji shook his head. After so many yars, Shinji couldn't any longer see these signs within his father, since he deep inside had a picture of how his father behaved, and any deviations would only confuse the boy. That was one of Shinji's flaws.

"Shinji, he went berserk, because of the one thing he himself propably thought he'd forgotten: he actually does care for you," Ryoji explained.

"He cares...?" Shinji didn't want to believe it, but Gendo's actions spoke a clear language.

"I might not know all of your family history, but I know the signs if someone cares for another and goes at lengths to protect. Your father has finally admitted it to himself and risked his own life to protect yours. It is not that I can tell you what to do... the choice is yours alone. But you should really think about if you still want to deny him a second chance," Ryoji carefully explained.

Shinji stayed silent, but the man's words had made him think. It was confusing for him and he needed to ask his mother for advice. It was hard to let go of the comfortable status quo.

o

The shouting match between Yui and fake-Naoko was still going on, when suddenly Yui stopped, then shook her head. "I have no more time for arguing with you. My son needs me." And that said, her face vanished from the screen.

However, this meant that they now again had to endure the venom from the fake Naoko.

Ritsuko looked as if down to her last nerve. This fake of her mother was the most cruel thing that someone could have done to her. She by now felt like she had to hit on something, but she couldn't. Sitting down at her station, she felt like crying when hearing her mother being made look bad by this thing. Emotional cruelty was something she was suspictible to, and being constantly plastered by it from the fake-Naoko had worn dont her emotional shield and now she was defenseless.

Maya noticed this, and gently held Ritsuko, who no longer cared how it looked like. "H-how dare they to do this to her memory... They are pulling her good name through the dirt..." Ritsuko sobbed in a mixture of anger and helplessness.

"Sshhh... Don't cry," Maya soothed her. It was breaking her heart to see Ritsuko so hurt.

_How dare they to do this to her?_ she silently fumed. She was not known to hold a grudge or to hate people, but a part of her now only wished the worst for SEELE when seeing Ritsuko's tears. As cruel as it sounded, Maya felt that people like that had no place on the world.

The Vice-Commander shook his head, when seeing how much the whole situation had hurt Dr. Akagi. He knew from the past that psychological warfare was most often the worst kind, being able to create long-term damage. And to see the MAGI, her mother's creation, misused in such a way and mocking the elder Akagi, was putting a heavy toll on her.

"The three MAGI Melchior, Balthasar and Casper have become our enemy..." Fuyutsuki said, while looking at the scene. "A scientist, a mother and a woman bringing about our doom..."

Suddenly Ritsuko stopped sobbing and looked up. Despite the tear trails in her face, she suddenly looked as if on something. Getting up, she walked to the Vice-Commander. "Wait a moment... You mentioned the three parts of the MAGI."

"Yes, but I fail to see how this will help us in our situation." He had no idea what she was playing at, but could see the gears turning in her head. She had an idea.

"The very basic built of the MAGI. This fake thinks she is the real Naoko... But now you've given me a weapon that will solve this mess." Ritsuko looked almost diabolical. "Watch and see..."

She gave some signs to her co-workers to be ready at their controls, then faced the main screen, when the fake was still ranting. "Mother, I do accept my personal guilt, but can I at least ask you something?"

The fake stopped ranting and then looked smug. "Finally... And how can I help you?"

Ritsuko looked hopeful. "How do you feel as a human being about being trapped inside a computer?"

Fake-Naoko looked confused and was silent for some seconds, before trying to answer. "It-it certainly is fascinating for a human mind being transferred into a computer. The mathematical possibilities..."

"That's a scientist speaking! I want your opinion as a human being."

The fake started to look even more nervous. "Horrible, since I was no longer there to help and guide you on your way..."

"That's a mother's viewpoint! I'm still waiting..."

She did one last attempt to answer. "W-with being genderless now, I can no longer define myself..."

"The typical viewpoint of a woman concerned with her body!" Ritsuko now saw that the fake was silent. "Scientist, mother, woman. Melchior, Balthasar, Casper. Admit it to yourself, the sum of these parts makes no person. You can't answer as a human being, because you aren't one...

...you are a computer program."

"T-t-that's impossible... I should know... No, I should have known...How could I have overseen...?" Her image started to flicker, static creeping into it. It seemed that the revelation together with her denial was driving her into a loop.

"The MAGI have gone into a program loop, we have access. We are removing the blocks and transfer all access rights to the emergency computers!" Maya called, before they at once went to work to restore their full capacities. "We did it, catapults and defense systems are back online in five minutes!"

"Isolate the MAGI physically! We can't have them interfering again," Fuyutsuki quickly ordered. Now he no longer wanted to take any risks.

Lt. Hyuga grabbed a fire axe. Pulling open the covers to the data cables, he hacked through them, one after the other, for all three of the computers, until only one was left that he couldn't reach. "Only one left, the one to the main screen. I can't reach that one."

Ritsuko eyed the axe in his hand, then looked to the Vice-Commander. "The MAGI are a complete loss, the pesonality program got totally overwritten by the virus..."

He could already see what she wanted to do. And actually, he did understand why she wanted to do it. "The MAGI are our enemy... We also won't need them any longer. The city already is in ruins and our other computers are enough for this last time. No one will hold it against you..." he practically encouraged her.

Taking the axe, Ritsuko looked in anger at the exposed soft tubing and circuit boards. There was a good reason why they normally weren't exposed. "She spent five years of her life on you!" **-cranck-** She slammed the axe into the tubing, causing the coolant liquid starting to spill.

"No, stop!" the fake Naoko pleaded.

"Five years in which she barely had time for me!"** -crash- **The next strike slammed into circuit boards, sparks flying when the delicate hardware was broken.

"You are destroying my circuits!"

"Five years in which we lived each other apart!" **-cronc-** The fine, nerve-like fiberglass cables were no match for the sharp metal.

Static was about to swallow the fake Naoko. "Don't do this..."

Ritsuko looked with hatred at the fake of her mother. "And the worst... this is how you have thanked her for all the sacrifices she made for YOU!" **-craaaack-** The final strike smashed through numerous circuit boards, causing a fatal system collapse that took the other two computers with it.

"Nooooooo..." Static replaced her on the screen, before the tactical map re-appeared on it.

Ritsuko dropped the axe, breathing heavy. Now that this was out of her system, she ignored the stares the others gave her, and instead looked at the map that showed the battle of Tokyo-3. "And they are next..."

o

The battle was still raging in Tokyo-3. Both sides by now had suffered heavy losses, but still no final victory could be declared on any side, and so the killing and destruction continued on.

But then suddenly everything changed when the heavily armoured covers of the defense system of the ruined city opened up to reveal significant firepower. Firepower that didn't hesitate to blast off at once at all the hostile forces detected by the targeting system. Mighty artillery and gun enplacements fired off their deadly load against ground troops, while missile batteries opened fire on enemy aircraft.

The surprised enemy took heavy losses, and the defenders got new hope from this turn of fortune.

With newfound strength, they fought and then at first slowly and then faster with each minute, manage to push back the hostile forces, inflicting heavy losses on them. The tide of battle had turned against the invaders, and now they'd lose the day.

o

"It seems that our pawns have failed to accomplish their goal," SEELE 04 commented, when they watched the growing superiority of the defenders, now that the defense systems of Tokyo-3 had went back online. Their troops were wiped out bit for bit.

"True, but that shouldn't concern us too much," SEELE 02 added, switching off his display to show that he didn't any longer care about their forces..

"Yes, since they already have served their purpose, the air defense is no longer existent, and now our true weapons will now show their might," SEELE 05 said sinister, activating a different display that showed their true weapons of destruction..

Keel also hadn't been surprised that their troops had failed to defeat the defenders. However, they were expendable, as them winning would only have been the easy way to gain control over Unit-01. It was just that the easy way most times simply didn't work, just like now. In any case, they had freed the way for their actual plan to arrive in Tokyo-3's ruins and that was all that counted.

"Oh yes. NERV now will feel the true power of the EVA-Series, our heralds of a new time."

o

Down in Terminal Dogma, it was still a stalemate between Adam and Lilith. While the power storm raged around them, none of them had moved much, still being deadlocked and unwilling to move one millimeter.

However, Adam knew that this couldn't go on forever.

While he was unable to tap into his full power to defeat Lilith, she had no such qualms to cause massive destruction, and he'd to use equal parts of his power to battle her and to stop her from causing mass destruction. Thus she had him at a serious disadvantage.

_**I have to do something...**_

However, the only option was, to somehow get Lilith outside, so that he could take her to a place, where their battle wouldn't cause damage. Question was, how to lure her to the shaft that would lead outside.

_**"You care, and that makes you weak,"**_ Lilith gloated, having realised that Adam was actively preventing any colleteral damage, making his attempts to overpower her essentially impotent _**"I'm stronger, because I'm not hindered by such a weakness. I don't care."**_

_**"What you call weakness, is a strength. You call mankind a failure... but the defeat of our children proves you wrong. They are strong because they do care,"**_ Adam shot back, while slowly pushing Lilith towards the gate.

He'd decided that Lilith was concentrating so much on him, that she actually didn't notice her surroundings any longer. Hopefully when she would notice, it would be too late for her to stop him. For now it seemed that Lilith had no idea what he was doing.

_**"No matter, I shall destroy them anyway. I'm not like our weak offspring."**_ Lilith told him with a glare from her seven eyes. She then enjoyed the look of pain from Adam at the mention of his dead children.

_**"Hit a nerve, didn't I?"**_ she added gloatingly.

Adam knew that she was trying to make him angry, so that he would make a critical error. However, being reminded of his dead children hurt nonetheless. Burrying the grief deep inside himself, he concentrated on further pushing Lilith into the tunnel to reach the central shaft.

Lilith finally noticed this. _**"What...?"**_

Adam knew this was his small window of opportunity. Using his AT-field to propel himself forward, he slammed into Lilith and both of then shot down the tunnel. He felt her trying to cancel out his field, but he held on by sheer force of will, seeing already the wall of the shaft in the distance.

_**"Impotent in battle? Let me prove you wrong!"**_

o

"Radar posts report that nine transport planes in narrow formation are approaching Tokyo-3," Lt. Aoba reported. "Configuration is that of EVA-carriers. All AA-batteries of the army were destroyed in the initial assault and they are approaching from a direction that isn't covered by our own batteries. The fighter aircraft are still busy with the enemy fighters and the planes fly too high for helicopters. We have a picture."

On the main screen, the formation of the EVA-carriers appeared. They had no trouble to see the Evangelions that were loaded beneath them. They knew that this would be now the true battle, after SEELE's conventional army had failed to gain access to Unit-01.

Now they had sent the EVA-Series to finish them off.

Misato looked up to see the grave look that the Vice-Commander was giving her. The Commander didn't look any less grim, the injury in his shoulder making him look like an old soldier who'd seen too much suffering. He'd returned only minutes ago, his shoulder bandaged up and his jacket just thrown over his shoulders.

He hadn't said anything about the destruction of the MAGI, instead had watched the decimation of the enemy troops on his screens. Gendo then looked down to Misato, and gave her a nod to show, that it now was up to the pilots to save the world from destruction.

"Launch all Evangelions except Unit-01..." Misato ordered. After all, it would be stupid to give them what they wanted on a silver platter.

"EVA's launched..." Lt. Ibuki announced, but suddenly...

**-ggggrrrrrrooooooommmmmm-m-m-m-m-mmm-m-**

The ground started to shake, and the security system automatically showed the interitor of the geofront on the screen, where suddenly a pillar of white light shot out of the broken-open central shaft.

_**...to be continued**_

_**Next up, part 2 of the finale: "The final Battle"

* * *

**_

_I want to give you some background stuff about the story creation process and some PM feedback I got that motivated me to give public answers. I got anonymus PMs where people complained that wasn't using stuff from the mangas or Rebuild, some even saying that only using the original series makes the story lame. Therefore first here some counterpoints:_

_I created the story April 2007, that was before Rebuild was even released (and in Europe it came even later). Only the manga was there as alternative, but I decided not to use it because of two main reasons:_

_-First, the scrapping of a number of the Angels already pretty much was a KO-criteria._

_-Second, the authors fetisch for Kaworu where he was pushed to the front, made the thing unreadable for me._

_Of course you now can wonder if I should have edited chapters or used ideas after Rebuild got released. Well, I didn't and I'll give you the reasons._

_-First, again the Angels again. Numerous Angels again were srapped andothers were either changed beyond recognition (Zeruel) or became gimmicky (Ramiel). That again already was a KO-criteria._

_-The re-tooling of the storyline erased far too many details. I found the red water especially stupid for example._

_-I was pretty much disappointed that they again used a new character in form of Mari. Couldn't they have used Mana? That would've been awsome._

_Therefore I made several rules for my story:_

_-The Angels have their classic appearance, which I only modify with a good reason (Iruel, Bardiel)._

_-No characters from the manga or Rebuild._

_-Episodes 25 and 26 are not existant. And for 21 to 24, only the Director's Cut is use for reference material._

_-Characters from the games (Mana, Mayumi) are allowed, but will be molded for the story._

_As for the creation process of the story._

_I was watching Evangelion in early April 2007 and was at the end pretty much pissed with how much potential was wasted by the creatior by using the series to show off to the world how bad he thinks we and the whole world are. It made me think how the story would have gone without the characters going all emo or psycho._

_At first I just started to write up the chapters, without a final plan in mind. This went well until the defeat of Ramiel, the 5th Angel. After that I realized that I really needed a plan, so I started to tool a frame for the whole story. Big events were set, but small ones and details would come at the creation of the chapters themselves. I found this gave me the best way between plan and good, sudden ideas._

_Of course my plans changed several times._

_-There had been next to no filler chapters in the first draft, Angel battles were most of the chapters. It took me only little time to realize that this pace was far too hectical and allowed for too little character development._

_-In my first plans, Misato and Kaji were not intended to rekindle their relationship. However, after a while I realized that it was stupid and that they should act their age, and so decided that they can do it._

_-I at first had planned to have Asuka retain her jealously against Rei and much longer actively try to win over Shinji. However, when writing the chapter where Rei and Asuka came first time to a clash, I found that ending thematter in that chapter was more effective, and did it that way, instead having Asuka become agitated over how Rei acted towards her (which was her own fault)._

_-I also in the first draft didn't plan for Mana and Mayumi apprearing._

_-For a long time I had no idea what to do with Kaworu. Only when I wrote Armisael's chapter did I have the idea to have him come together with Asuka._

_I hope this was a nice insight on how the creation of this story worked in my case._

_Next time I will speak about how I created the various personalities of the Angels._


	41. Adam and Lilith Part 2

I will say these things in advance: I have absolutely no rights to NGE, but you should have already known that.

Finally decided to clean up the disclaimers, in case you wonder where the usual disclaimer has went.

Now the true test has begun. Can our heroes stop Third Impact from happening? Find it out. Also, you FINALLY get answers on the question of "how?".

NOTE: I have started to re-compile the story in pdf-format with better formatting and lots of pictures (a number I had to tweak). I'll send the first and second book (which cover the first 28 chapters) to everyone interested.

Also, I have written an interesting insight on how I developed the various Angels at the end of this chapter. (It is HUGE!)

After you've read the chapter, **please Review!** Please tell me your opinion. I promise to answer every review I get.

* * *

**Chapter 40: Adam and Lilith- Part 2 -The final Battle**

_**"Let go of me, Adam!"**_ Lilith screetched in anger, but it was to little avail. He was holding firm on her, while his AT-field was catapulting them up the central shaft, in a pillar of white light, into the geofront.

But even there it didn't stop. Adam wanted to get her as far away as possible from mankind, knowing that the destructive powers would otherwise devastate the planet, making the destruction brought by his children look like a kindgarden game in comparison. Holding tight on Lilith, he willed his field to propell them towards the ceiling. It would hurt, but it was the only quick way out.

**-craaaaack-**

On the surface, everyone stopped fighting. Not because of the four deployed Evangelions, which had scared away lots of enemy troops. No, it was because of that pillar of light errupting from the ground, carrying two big, glowing Angels skywards. Both struggled against each other, while moving further and further away from the surface.

_**"Where are you taking me?"**_ Lilith hissed, while trying to hit Adam into his dark core. She didn't like at all what this looked like, he was taking her away from her domain.

Adam looked hard to her, while they already were up in the stratosphere, beginning to leave Earth altogether. _**"To a place where you can't hurt them... And where I finally can go all out against you... The place that I created for you once as a sign of my love for you..."**_ The last words were said in bitterness.

Liltih now understood and looked up to see the Moon in the distance. In the year where she'd managed to seduce him, he'd given her a gift by manipulating the then still young Earth, which was devoid of life at that point, to give the planet a moon. The Moon was supposed to be a lasting monument of how much he felt for her. But now it was a sign of fool's love.

_**"If you insist... so be it..."

* * *

**_

_...some minutes later..._

"Code Orange! All units retreat!" was the general order given out the all army units in and around Tokyo-3. They knew that they had little to no chance to actually do something against hostile Evangelion units, so they did the one thing they could do: clearing the battlefield to keep losses low.

The enemy obviously knew this as well. All battle spirit had left them and they were fleeing in all directions, knowing that they had lost everything and now only could try to escape with their lives. Their invasion had failed.

While the other units retreated, one kept guard, circling the perimeter of the ruined city.

"Mana, I really hope you don't plan on attacking these things," Hikari prayed, while they waited for their true enemy to arrive.

"Do I look this stupid? I know very well that they could rip me and Trident to shreds without breaking a sweat. Oh no, I'll keep my distance and keep all of you informed where these assholes are," Mana replied.

She had no illusions that she could actively attack. She knew the EVA-Series all had an AT-field, making conventional weapons useless. However, she would not desert her friends and run away, something that even Hanson agreed on, saying that he wouldn't leave his bunker either and stay, if needed to the bitter end. Even if they mainly were only moral support in this battle.

She also felt the toll of the battle on her soul. All this death and destruction... Up to now she'd only been deployed to help Evangelions against Angels. Things that she easily enough could destroy without feeling guilty. But to kill fellow humans was something different. Despite knowing that they'd been the enemy, it made her feel horrible. Teenagers were not meant to be sent into battle, after all.

_Keep yourself together, _she scolded herself. She right now needed all her conentration for what still was ahead of them.

Suddenly she saw something on her scopes. "There! There they are!"

On the bridge they'd noticed the EVA-carriers entering the airspace of Tokyo-3 as well. The picture zoomed in on one of them to show details of the red dummy plug sticking out of the neck of that EVA_. "Kaworu-07"_ could be read on it. Gendo didn't like the look of that at all.

"You know what this means?" he asked Fuyutsuki, although he already knew the answer.

The Vice-Commander knew too well. "Oh yes, Tabris has not lied. They used his manipulated clones to create special dummy plugs, far superior to what had had been able to create." He looked down to Misato. "Major, warn the pilots that these Evangelions will act like real beings, and not as if merely piloted. The units are one with their dummy plugs."

Misato was barely able to do so, when the EVA-Series started to activate.

"Yuck, look at that! They have no face, just a maw with teeth. They look like worms!" Toji gasped in disgust when seeing the features the the units, when they started to dislodge from their carriers. That the enemy had no face at all was greatly disturbing him.

The dummy plugs screwed into the necks of the EVA-Series and they then dismounted their carriers, jumping off and opening something that looked like artificial wings, slowly gliding downwards over the destroyed city like vultures waiting for their prey. It was a truely frightening picture.

However, something else attracted Misato's attention. Something that these beasts held in their hands. It looked like a red, helix-shaped lance. She then recognised the design. "Children, be careful! These things have copies of the Lonce of Longinus! If they work, they can shredder through your AT-field!"

"They can have the ultimate weapon, and I still wouldn't care!" Asuka growled in answer, watching the enemy circling the inner city. "Come... come. Come down so that I can beat out your lights!"

"Damn it, Asuka! This is no game!" Shinji, whose Evangleion was still inside the cage, hissed, linking into the communication. "They want to destroy the entire world, your personal vendetta is second to stopping them from doing that."

"Shinji is right. Please, Soryu, do not let your anger and grief cloud your judgement," Rei added, hoping that Asuka was not about to make a huge error in the upcoming battle.

Asuka was silent and didn't say anything else.

"Get ready, they are coming down!" Mana warned them, when she saw them descending towards the ruins of Tokyo-3.

The EVA-Series landed in a big circle around them. Getting a closer look they decided that besides the worm-like head, they had a body-build that looked like a cross between caveman, brute and gorilla. Their wings folded away and the way they 'looked' (meaning their body language) at them was most threatening. A mixture between cold-bloodedness and hunger.

These were not mere Evangelions... they were man-made monsters.

"Oh-uh, looks like these guys think that we are their lunch," Toji said, while gulping hard. He didn't like that at all, watching how the EVA-Series greedily licked their lips.

"Start the activation of the S² of Unit 00 and 02. If their cables are cut, we can't risk them running out of power," Ritsuko ordered while the standoff continued. No need to take unneccassary risks. Maya silently did so, knowing that other than that, it was out of their hands.

Only seconds later, it happened.

All of a sudden, the first of the enemies jumped up, trying to sink its sharp teeth into, Unit-04's armour. Thankfully, Hikari reacted fast and slammed her foot into the stomach of the monster, kicking it away. To her surprise, the EVA didn't seem that fazed about it, while her foot hurt. _What are these things made of?_

That was the signal for the others as well, and they began to swarm the defenders, trying to overwhelm them with numbers and brute force. The battle for the future of the world was on, and no one could forsee, how it would go.

o

Space was cold, empty and silent.

But then the emptyness was disturbed, when in a flash of white light, two struggling beings thundered towards Earth's natural satellite, trying to harm each other. Unlike before, Adam no longer had to hold back, now that they were already far away from Earth and any potential colleteral damage.

_**"Urrrgh..."**_ Adam grunted, when one swipe from Lilith made a shallow scratch on the surface of his core.

_**"I never understood why you are so foolish to carry your weakness on the outside,"**_ Lilith mocked him, while another swipe was averted by Adam.

Adam didn't bother to answer her. Instead, he saw the surface of the moon approaching rapidly and knew this this would undoubtly hurt. Taking hold of Lilith, he flipped them around and seconds later they impacted on the surface in a ball of light and a large dust cloud.

Both of them were stunned for a moment, but then Adam had to jump away and a particle beam barely missed him. A split-second later, and that would him gone directly through his torso.

_**"Here we are. Nothing lives here. And only one of us will leave,"**_ Adam told her determinated. He would show no weakness and no mercy. Lilith didn't deserve any mercy, not after all the things she'd done to both, him and the world he'd been supposed to protect.

Lilith rolled her seven eyes, leave the drama to her former mate. _**"Why always so dramatical, Adam? Why not just say one of us will get slaughtered?"**_ She then started to glow stronger than ever before, powering up for the real fight ahead of her.

Adam thought that this was so typically Lilith, while powering up himself. Devlish and complicated plans, but her words were as blunt as a sledgehammer. _**"If you want it this way... no more words!"**_

Now the fight truely had begun.

o

To say that the battle was not going well for the defenders of mankind was an understatement.

The EVA-Series were quite endurable, regardless how much you hit them, they'd shug it off and come back for more. Being pilotless and thus having eliminated one weakness, since a pilot's pain no longer hindered them, made them even more annoying to deal with. Even worse was, that these things were obviously capable of learning from their mistakes.

At the start they'd been like a pack of hungry animals, individually jumping them, trying to sink their teeth into them. However, after a while they obviously had realised that this didn't work and started to switch tactics. First they'd attacked in pairs. And after that failed, they were now keeping their distance, trying their luck with coordinated attacks.

"Scheiße!" Asuka cursed, while evading an attack from one of these monsters.

Swinging her prog-lance, she ripped open the ground between them and even injured it, a short burst of blood escaping. However, the beast only seemed to be bothered by it for some seconds, before jumping away, already planning for the next attack.

"What the hell can we do? They don't seem to care how many bruises they get!" Toji cursed, while being busy with fending off two at the same time. Regardless how many dents they made into these things, they still came back.

"I don't know but we need an idea, fast! They seem to get stronger while we get weaker," Hikari, interjected, while she kicked one of these things away from Unit-03 to help Toji.

Their dependence on power cables made them especially vulnerable against attacks, and these things obviously knew that. Just a minute ago she'd prevented one of them biting through her cable. Asuka and Rei at least had an internal power generators with their S², while they would be hosed without the cables.

"I hate that, sitting here and doing nothing, while they are fighting for their lives," Shinji cursed, while being forced to sit this one out.

While Unit-01 was ready on the catapult, he was forbidden to start, since his EVA was exactly what the enemy wanted to get into their hands. To be sure they'd even disconnected the cable to ensure that Shinji wouldn't do anything stupid. However, Yui could feel that her son was very close to breaking the rules to help his friends in battle.

"Please be reasonable. You don't to give them what they want to destroy all of mankind, do you?" she pleaded with him, hoping that he'd agree with her reasoning.

"What use is it when these monsters overwhelm them? Then its me alone against all of them!" Shinji had no illusion that this would be a fight he had no chance of winning.

Yui knew that he had a point. He alone had no chance to win. So if things sould become dire, she wouldn't hesitate to help him to start anyway, since at that point it wouldn't make a difference anymore, where they'd catch him.

"Shit!" Toji cursed, when one of the beasts had managed to bite him into his left leg.

Slamming both hands in a hammer punch on its head, Toji heard a crunch and the EVA let go of him and jumped away, wailing in pain. Obviously this time he'd managed to finally hit were it hurt. The EVA's sadistic smile turned into an angry scrowl. It seemed that being really hurt only had managed to make it mad.

"They can be hurt!" Toji called to the others.

"As if I haven't noticed! They are now really mad!" Hikari shouted back, dodging the lance from one beast while hitting another square into the maw, breaking off two or three of its teeth in the process.

It seemed to see one of theirs getting hurt and howling in pain had made the EVA-Series again switch tactics. No more single attacks, now at least two ganged up on one, no more trying to take a bite. Instead they were no seriously using their lances to push the defenders more and more into the defensive, ruthlessly using their advantage.

**-crack-**

"My cable is cut!" Hikari called when suddenly her system switched to battery power.

It seemed that the beasts had only waited for this, almost half of them ganging up on Hikari, trying to get her to waster her battery power and stop her from reaching the next power connector. "Guys, help me!"

"I can't!" Toji returned. He right now was busy with not being turned into a shashlik by the lance of one of their foes, and it took up all of his concentration, since it this time seemed determined to not let go.

"They are holding us back." Rei had her own problems with two of them.

Rei hadn't said much during the whole battle, but she knew that their enemies weren't dumb. They were learning. Right now she had a hard time to dodge, when being attacked from two sides at the same time. She knew that the prolonged battle was starting to weaken them, and it would be only a matter of time, before this would give their enemy the critical advantage.

However, Asuka's reaction was quite different.

"Fuck! Leave her alone!" she screamed, jumping over one of the brutes attacking her (stepping on its head in the process), before furiously attacking Hikari's attackers. She finally had enough and her anger was making her see red and lose control. While giving her more attack power, it also made her vulnerable and less observant.

She didn't even notice one of them cutting her cable and switching to power from her S², while hitting one of the beasts with a flying kick, forcing it away from Unit-04. "You want a fight? You get it!"

It was a wonder that Unit-02 didn't go into a battle rage, considering that Asuka had just slipped into one. Like a berserker she attack the other three of Hikari's attackers, forcing them back in a fury of punches and kicks, bloodying them in the process. Her enemies howled in pain while she slipped deeper into her bloodlust, all the anger and hatred over Kaworu's death pouring into it.

"Asuka, retreat, Hikari has put in another cable!" Misato ordered, but Asuka didn't listen and faught on. "Damnit, Asuka!"

She'd feared that something like this would happen. Her grief and anger had pushed Asuka into a battle fury, and now she no longer listened to anyone. She also no longer watched her back, and that was a bad idea, as everyone else saw it coming.

"Asuka, watch out!" Mana tried to warn her, seeing from above what Asuka was unable to see.

Too late.

"AAAAAHHH!" Asuka screamed when suddenly it felt as if a glowing-hot spear was pushed through her abdomen. One of the monsters had sneaked up behind her and rammed its lance through her. She looked in horror at the weapon sticking out of the front of her EVA, before she screamed again when the monster pulled out the weapon.

She'd no time to react when suddenly four of them swarmed her, pushing her to the ground, while the other five held back the others with their lances. The way how these monsters smiled and drooled while greedily licking their lips made it quite clear what they were about to do.

Asuka now became painfully aware that her rage had brought her into this position, and what it meant. "NEIN! NEIN! SIE WOLLEN MICH FRESSEN!" _(NO! NO! THEY WANNA EAT ME!)_ she screamed in panic, while EVA-Series bared their teeth as if to show her what they'd do in a few seconds.

Shinji saw in horror on his screen what these things were about to do. "Damnit, get me up there! I can't sit here while they slaughter her!"

On the bridge, everyone didn't know if that would be a smart decision, considering what was at stake. However, someone else made that decision. "Launch Evangelion-01," was the only thing Gendo said, and no one questioned him.

He knew that it now no longer would make a difference. Should Unit-02 fall, then the battle would be lost, the numbers of the enemy simply too big. So sending Shinji to battle now was the only hope to stop that from happening, regardless how dangerous it was. He just hoped that he hadn't made an error, when the catapult launched the Evangelion towards the surface.

"Urg..." Shinji hadn't expected the sudden acceleration and needed a second to adapt to it.

Racing up the shaft, Shinji noticed that he still had't put in a power connector. "Mom, please tell me the S² is powered up," he asked, while unlocking the shoulder restraints. For what he had in mind, he needed the momentum.

"Yes, but I worry that it could have unexpected side effects..." Yui cautioned him. She had no idea what this piece of the 14th Angel could cause to the EVA. She'd tried to come to a conclusion for weeks, but in the end had to admit that she simply didn't know what could happen.

"Well, too late." Shinji saw the open exit ahead. "The dance starts now!"

"NEEEIIIIIIN!" Asuka screamed, when she saw the monsters open their maws to sink their teeth into her. It was a nightmare coming true.

**-ccrrrang- -wooossh-**

Everyone looked up in surprise -including the EVA-series- to see a purple blur flying out of a just arrived elevator, flying in an arc directly towards the monsters who were just about to rip Unit-02 to pieces.

"Leave her alone!" Shinji screamed, then his outstretched leg hit its mark.

Unit-01's foot hit one EVA directly into its maw, costing it nearly all its teeth and made it fly away from Asuka while it howled in pain. The others were too surprised to react and regretted it, when the next one got speared into the stomach by Unit-01's horn, before it was sent away with a kick as well. These few seconds had been enough for Asuka to react on instinct, using her freed arms to slam her elbow into the gut of one of her attackers, before making a break for it.

Jumping up, Shinji looked around, only to suddenly see that their enemies had lost interest in the others, all looking to him, their toothy smiles most threatening. He knew that right at this moment, they'd made him their prime target.

"Oh sh..." he had no time to finish when the whole pack advanced on him. "Keep these jokers away from me!"

Everyone knew what was at stake, so they tried their best to keep the EVA-Series at bay. However, these monsters weren't any longer interested in a fight. While three of them were still busy with defending themselves, the others suddenly pulled out their wings and used AT-field manipulation to fly towards Unit-01. Before Shinji had an idea what was going on, they grabbed him and took off.

"What the...? Damn it!" He cursed, trying to get lose from their grip, but it was to no avail.

And suddenly, they let go of him, and two of the monsters created an energy net that held Unit-01 in the air. Then it were four, then all six, three on each side, building up the energy net. The orange energy seemed to come directly from their cores and started to pour into Unit-01.

"Ahhhhhhh!" Yui suddenly screamed. The energy, as strange as it sounded, hurt her. It was as if her soul itself was being tortured. Shinji could only watch her screaming, frozen in terror over what was going on around him and helpless to stop it in any way. It was his nightmares coming true, the apocalypse they'd worked so hard to prevent.

Then one of the three remaining beasts finally managed to get free and did fly off towards above Unit-01, creating its own energy connection. Then another managed to break free, only one now held back. The net was taking form, revealing what it would be.

Ritsuko looked in terror at what was happening, knowing what this was, seeing the almost completed, cross-shaped energy net.. "No!... They are forming the Tree of Life!"

_All futile..._ Shinji felt ashamed that his brashness had brought them this.

_Es kann doch nicht so enden... _(It can't end like this...) Asuka felt cold, while watching the Tree.

_Hikari... _Toji had had so much hope for their future, and now it was all gone.

_I will never see them again..._ Hikari was grieving for everything that would never be.

_The end of the world...and I'm watching it..._ Mana, who had been unable to help in any way, felt like crying.

_But, I so much wanted to become a mother..._ Misato stood frozen in place.

_Misato, I'm sorry... _Ryoji knew, he now never could hold his promises to Misato.

_My errors allowed this to happen..._ Gendo knew that his years of doing the wrong things had resulted in this.

_Mankind doesn't deserve such a cruel punishment... _Fuyutsuki grieved for all the future generations never to be.

_Why?_ That was the only thing Ritsuko could think.

_No. Oh please all gods, no... _Maya was horribly scared over what now would happen.

_Destroyed by people wanting to become gods... _Makoto could only stare at their coming doom.

_I would have never thought to end this way... _Shigeru thought, especially angry that anyone would be so arrogant to decide for all of mankind.

Rei felt cold in the pit of her stomach. She'd hoped for a future with Shinji, being happy with him, giving birth to their children and raising them in a better world. But now all of this would be gone in a few seconds. She had a horror-picture before her mind's eye of how she held her first-born directly after birth, only to see the new life dissolving into LCL.

As if to be cruel, everything seemed to go even slower then it should be... No, Rei blinked. It WAS slower... Until everything seemed to be frozen. She opened her mouth, but then, after she'd blinked again...

* * *

_..._

"What is this?"

Rei blinked, trying to find out if this was a hallucination. She was still sitting in her pilot seat, but instead of it being inside her entry plug, it was floating in something that looked like outer space. Insterestingly enough, she had absolutely no problems with breathing, so it couldn't be the real thing. It was quite surreal and made her wonder if the EVA-Series was capable of doing the same trick that the 16th Angel did.

Looking around she saw that she was floating close to the moon. But when she looked to Earth, she stopped in shock. Instead of the peaceful and life-giving blue, the planet's oceans were blood-red, looking as if the planet was bleeding to death. It was painful to look at and reminded her of her visions of the world after Third Impact.

"The evidence of my crime... What you want to prevent."

"Who is there?" Rei was alarmed that this had been her own voice. She now was sure that this was some kind of trap to misguide her.

Before her, someone appeared. It was her, but yet not her. The Rei before her had short hair and looked sad, while her whole body was glowing in a dull, white light. "I am Rei Ayanami... I am you, and yet I am not you. Iam what you could have been and who you had been."

"Do not speak in riddles!" Rei had little patience. Right at the moment Shinji was trapped by the EVA-Series and Third Impact was about to happen. She had every right to be annoyed.

The glowing Rei blinked, then floated closer to her counterpart. "I am the Rei Ayanami who you could have been, had things went different. You have to know, from where I come from, Third Impact indeed happened. I thought I would make mankind happy by them becoming one... In reality I commited the worst crime of all."

Rei was reminded of her recent nightmare. "My dream..."

"Oh yes... When Shinji stopped the process, to allow mankind the option to return, the world was left as a shattered hull. I started to slowly die... And then I saw any hope crushed when Shinji, having become insane by his long isolation, strangling Asuka to death... Mankind would never return," the glowing Rei told her in sadness.

"The Ancient Ones never intended for this kind of power to come into being. It is a system failure with catastrophic consequences... I was dying, and I desperately searched for a way to undo my horrible deed. I finally found it... I turned back time itself."

"Impossible..." Rei tried to protest.

"Have you still learned nothing? After all what you have seen, are you still so ignorant?" That shut Rei up. "But I knew that even doing that, things would simply repeat... That act of turning back time used up my remaining power, only sparks of it remained. I could only do very little to change things, and so I influenced one person two times... Gendo Ikari."

"You influenced the Commander's mind?" Rei felt that despite it propably being for the greater good, it left a bitter taste in her mouth.

"I wouldn't call it that. When the Commander tried to decide where to send Shinji, I steered his thoughts to send him to Kaldor Ikari. In my original timeline, he was sent to an indifferent teacher and grew up to be a psychological wreck. Kaldor helped Shinji to become the young man he now is."

Rei had to admit, that had been a very good idea. Imagining Shinji as a spineless weakling was frightening. "And the second time?"

"When he made decisions on how to make you, in the original timeline, a part of Lilith's soul had been put into the being called Rei Ayanami... I nudged him to decide that this is too dangerous, thus keeping Lilith whole and keeping you clean from her influence... The rest was a chain reaction, like ripples from a stone thrown into water... Yet my meddling with time had some side effects."

"Our dreams of Third Impact come from this?" Rei asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yes... temporal fragments that show what could have been, what I have undone by turning back the clock. Shinji also saw me on the day he arrived and the first Angel attack... I had not been careful and he'd seen me."

"Why are you telling me all this?" Rei finally asked.

The glowing Rei looked down, sad. "Because my crime is about to be repeated, only by someone else. And this time, no one will turn back time. They want to destroy all the good that all of you have created. So I have used most of the dimming sparks of power to stop time for a moment and bring you here to give you the choice, since my own time now is coming to an end."

"You are dying?" Rei had a hard time believing that, seeing how bright this other Rei still was.

"Look can be deceiving. My power is fading rapidly and my soul is tainted beyond recovery. Even the forces of darkness no longer want me... So I want to do one last act. To give you my remaining power to give you the strength to stop them from initiating Third Impact. However, you need to agree..."

Rei had a hard time coming to a decision. This suddenly got dropped into her lap and she had no idea what to do. It seemed so tempting. Yet, what if this all was a trick? But then again, Third Impact was about to happen anyway, so if it was a trick, it would have been pretty pointless.

"I agree."

The glowing Rei gathered most of her glow in a glowing ball in her hand. It shone brightly, while her glow started to dim, she herself slowly fading away. She sent the ball then directly into Rei's chest and she gasped, when she felt the power surge, closed her eyes.

Only a faint whisper now remained of the future Rei. "I will send you back... Are you ready?"

She opened her eyes, and they glowed hot white. _**"That I am!"

* * *

**_

_..._

Everyone knew that this was it, when they watched the final EVA managing to get out of Hikari's hold, starting to pull out its wings. Now, in only seconds the Tree of Life would be complete, and then...

**"RRRAAAAAHHHHHHHHHRRRRRR!"**

As much as they had been horrified by the impending end of the world, the sudden roar of rage coming from Unit-00, whose one eye suddenly started to burn hot-yellow, was even more frightening. The last EVA seemed intimidated for some seconds, before trying to take off anyway. However, these seconds had been too long when Unit-00 suddenly jumped high up, grabbing the monster by the ankle.

The cockpit view appeared on the screen, and everyone was shocked to see Rei's eyes growing the same angry yellow as her Evangelion's. Her features were twisted into a rage that no one could have ever imagined her to slip into.

**"NEVER!"** Rei screamed, before grabbing both wings and ripping them out, forcing the EVA back to the ground!

Maya was first to get over her fear, and when looking at the graph for Unit-00, she gasped. "That's impossible! Rei's synch-ratio has risen to exactly 100 percent!"

"100 percent? That would mean..." Ritsuko needed a second to accept what was happening. "That would mean she has perfect control, she and the Evangelion are practically one right now."

"One with it? Ritsu, please don't tell me..." Misato really didn't want Rei to share that experience with Shinji.

"No, as long as it doesn't go over it, she is in no danger." She then watched Unit-00 beating down mercilessly on her enemy, making huge cracks into its chest armor. "This is not Unit-00 running amok. This all comes from Rei."

_Gods...how angry must Rei be to cause this?_ Misato decided right now that she'd never again tease Rei about Shinji. Not after seeing this display of pure rage.

The others watched in awe at the beating that Rei was dishing out. Then finally her enemy managed to push her back and get on its feet. However, this only seemed to make Rei even angrier.

**"DIE!"** Running towards the Evangelion, she charged an uppercut with her AT-field and hit her mark perfectly.

**-splaaaaooosh-**

In a fountain of blood, she cleanly hit the head off her enemy's shoulders, the head flying hundreds of meters away while the beheaded body stumbled back, as if totally shocked. This only seemed to make Rei more determined and her fist shot forward, through the armor into its chest!

The monster, unable any longer to make sounds, could only twitch, until the bloody fist left its torso, having foung what it had searched for; the dummy plug. Without hesitating, Rei crushed it in her fist, and the beast collapsed like a puppet whose strings had been cut. Literally, since she just had crushed its brain.

The bloody display awed everyone. But then an alarm from his station caught Lt. Hyuga's attention. "Major! Her fist seriously damaged the S² of that Evangelion. It's about to blow up!"

"REI!" Misato hoped that this was getting through to the still seriously pissed looking girl. "Stop that and get rid of the corpse! It's going to explode!"

This finally shook Rei out of it. Although the glow was still in her eyes, starting to weaken with each second, she understood what to do. Grabbing the corpse by its feet, she whirled around (she'd sometime during her rampage lost her useless cable) before letting go. Thanks to AT-field manipulation the corpse sailed away into the sky, and that just in time, when seconds later an explosion filled the sky.

The shockwaves forced the other EVA-Series to cut off their energy net and fall down, crashing onto the ground. Unit-01 wouldn't have fared any better, if not for the others catching it.

Looking at their enemies while they got up, they had no trouble to see that they were confused that their mission had been a failure, unable to come to terms with it. The defenders on the other hand got an immense boost in battle morale. Now with the threat no longer looming over their heads, they only wanted one thing:

These things now would regret coming here.

o

"Impossible!" SEELE 03 couldn't believe what just had happened.

They had been close, so close to their ultimate goal! The Tree of Life had almost been completed, only a matter of seconds, when suddenly Unit-00 had run amok and literally slaughtered one of their heralds, making the start of Third Impact impossible. The following explosion had forced the other heralds back to the ground and now they were confused while the defenders got new strength and were now starting to destroy them.

"Plans that took decades... ruined by one brat!" SEELE 02 seethed, being close to what could only be described as wild rage.

All their cool and aloofness had vanished when seeing their ultimate life goal getting destroyed before their very eyes. Some snotty teenagers had managed to utterly destroy their grand plan which they had based on the Dead Sea Scrolls. All these decades for nothing... The pure frustration and hatred they now started to feel towards NERV, and especially the pilots, would have been impossible to imagine some minutes earlier.

"Yes, we have to...ARRRGGHHHH" **-brataktaktak-** Whatever SEELE 05 had planned to say, it got lost when suddenly gunfire errupted and bullets bursted through his chest in a spray of blood! His hologram vanished.

"We are discovered!" SEELE 04 realized, when he heard someone starting to bash in the door to his room. "Quick, leave before they-" **-crrrack- -blam-** He was silenced when the door was broken open and a bullet put forcibly through his head.

02 and 03 vanished, leaving Keel alone in his room. He also could already hear special forces starting to break open the door. There was no doubt that this was a planned action to get all of them at the same time. He had no illusions, 02 and 03 were by now most likely dead as well. Instead of becoming gods over mankind, they'd ended up as bullet-ridden corpses. He also knew that most likely the other, lower members were right now being eliminated as well.

_The others were not prepared, but I am..._ He now had lost everything but one thing, and he wouldn't allow anyone to take this from him.

Right then the door was kicked in. "Da ist er!" _(There he is!) _"Feuer!" _(Fire!)_ The commandos tried to end his life in a rain of bullets. However, instead of Keel they hit bulletproof glass, only making scratches in the surface.

"Sie haben doch nicht etwa wirklich geglaubt, dass ich so naiv bin?" _(You didn't really think I would be so naive, didn't you?) _Keel mocked them, while standing up. "Aber nun entschuldigen sie mich, ich habe einen wichtigen Termin in Tokio-3..." _(But now excuse me, I have an important appointment in Tokyo-3...)_

Leaving through a secret door that closed and locked behind him, Keel slowly walked down the stairs. It was now time to use his last resort. The one weapon that no one, not even the other members of SEELE, knew about, as it was a personal project of his. He'd used his own, considerable funds to create it, despite thinking that it would never see any usage. However, after all even he was only human and thus suspictible to human weaknesses.

It had started when 10 years ago his sickness had forced him to have cybernetic replacement parts. He had never gotten over the fact that he no longer had eyes, that the insides of his body were now almost 50 percent machine. Also a reason why he had wanted Third Impact, to leave behind his damaged body. He had felt like a cripple and wanted to prove to himself that it could be turned into a strength, and thus this machine came into being.

The very machine that now would be the tool of vengeance.

Sitting down inside the entry plug. He let it start to hardwire him directly into the system. He'd propably found the only way to outsmart the rule of children born after Second Impact. And he'd now make them feel pain like they'd never felt before.

_You brats will now pay for ruining all our plans. At least this consolation will be there for me,_ he thought, while powering up the carrier engine that would need only little time to transport him to Tokyo-3.

_Now it is time for you to feel the power of my Black Ace..._

o

While on Earth the destruction of mankind had been prevented, on the Moon the fight for the future still raged on.

_**"Why do you even bother, Adam?"**_ Lilith questioned him, while a wave of destruction dug a deep tench into the surface of the moon. _**"You defend my failed experiment for reasons that elude me."**_

_**"I have reasons you'd never understand."**_ Adam then set of massive cross-shaped explosions that threw back Lilith.

Their fight was already raging for some time now, and it started to spread destruction over the surface of the Moon. The heat of their battle was starting to melt the ground and lakes of molten, boiling rock were spreading over the surface around them. They were both now glowing a blinding white, having powered up to their full potential. Howwever, up to now their AT-fields protected them from any damage.

Lilith snorted, before slamming an AT-projection of her field into Adam, causing him to be thrown back several hundred meters. _**"Arrogant bastard. Don't claim the high ground when you only thought with your dick when we first met."**_

Adam didn't bother to mention that he was lacking said apprendage, their reproduction being quite different than that of the beings of Earth. However, the meaning was clear nonetheless, she was again baiting him, this time with him falling for her seducion all these years ago. However, he was trying hard not to let this get to him, since he knew that this was her intend.

_**"You shouldn't be the one who throws the first stone. The way you approached me can be almost considered rape,"**_ he tried to return without too much emotion, but some anger did manage to slip into it.

Lilith looked mock-hurt, while blasting a huge crater where Adam had been a second ago. _**"Don't tell me you didn't enjoy the fucking."**_

Ok, while they were physically different from Earth life in that regard, there were some things that were analogus to what humans knew as having sex. Yes, back then he had enjoyed it, but in retrospect it now only disgusted him, the only good thing coming from it had been his 15 children. Something that Lilith had taken away from him as well.

_**"I made an error. And I now will correct it," **_he said, not taking the bait.

Lilith's eyes narrowed. _**"So you see your stupid and now very dead spawn as an error? Propably because you weren't the one who had to carry them to term, all fifteen."**_

Adam could endure many things. But to remind him of his dead children, dead because Lilith had lured them into a death-trap, was the best way to rile him up, and Lilith knew that. It didn't matter to Adam that he carried the essence of his children inside himself, capable of resurrecting them. A huge, cross-shaped explosion went off in the background, showing that she finally had reached her goal, Adam was seeing red.

_**"You shouldn't have said that..."

* * *

**_

_...back in Tokyo-3..._

Unlike before, the battle now went totally different.

It was as if the EVA-Series had a hard time to cope with the loss of one of their number and the failure of their primary mission. It was hard to say with an artificial life form, but it seemed that this event had seriously hurt their battle morale, making them fight much worse than before. On the other hand, the pilots had gotten a significant boost of morale and now had turned the tide of battle and went into the offensive.

Only slowly, and after getting a severe beating, did their enemies again start to fight back. However, they still were no longer the horrible menace they'd battled before. Now they were on even ground and with no more armageddon hanging over their heads, the pilots were now effective in battle.

Toji had just grabbed a handgun from one of the storage bunkers, when he heard one of these things landing behind him in a huge dust cloud. Surprisingly, it didn't attack him on the spot but instead waited for him to make the first move.

_Let's see if these things understand me and are more than just brainless idiots,_ he thought, activating his speaker.

**"Hey you! Yes you, worm-face! Do you really need that toothpick in your hands to fight me? Man, that's weak."** Toji saw an instant reaction, when the beast scrowled and even without facial features looked downright pissed. Obviously, it understood him well enough and seemed to be capable of getting angry.

_Bingo... Now let's get him blow his lid._ **"Oh, come on! One of you blows up and now you're too chicken to attack me without this thing?"**

That did it. The monster dropped its lance, charging towards Unit-03, roaring in anger the entire time. It had no idea that this had been exactly what Toji had wanted to accomplish. He knew the next thing would be disgusting, but it had to be done.

Just when his enemy was about to reach him, Toji shot the arm with the gun forward, directly into the open maw of the beast. The thing hadn't expected this and started choking, but that didn't last long when Toji pulled the trigger. While normally an Evangelion wouldn't be fazed by gunfire, it was different if it went off inside them. The projectiles shreddered the dummy plug, exiting through the monster's back in a shower of blood. The Evangelion at once went dead.

Toji congratulated himself on his plan, especially that this thing wouldn't blow up after avoiding damage to the S². However, looking at his unit's hand, he threw away the now ruined gun. "Yuck! I hope there's a way to wash off Eva-slime!" he complained, looking in disgust at the stuff covering the hand.

Meanwhile, in the air, Mana watched the battle on the ground.

She still felt huge relief that Rei had managed to stop the apocalypse at the last second and that now at least the world was safe from destruction (even though she knew that there was still an insane monster named Lilith bent on killing them all). With that fear finally gone, she had watched in statisfaction when her friends started to beast up these monsters. It also distracted her from the battle earlier the day, with horrible pictures wanting to come to the front of her mind.

The only problem was, that she still couldn't actively help them.

_I'm sitting in the most modern and expensive regular piece of military hardware, and yet I'm sentenced to being a spectator. It's not fair... _She was still pissed over what these things had almost done. If she could only...

Suddenly she noticed Hikari stuggling with one of the monsters. Both were standing in the waters of the lake, trying to overpower the other. Looking on her screen, Mana saw that the field right at the moment was out, neutralized. She didn't hesitate to use this chance, quickly landing at the shore, taking aim.

"Hikari, get down!"

Hikari didn't question Mana. Letting go of her enemy, she ducked down into the water. Her opponent seemed confused for a second, then grabbed its spear. However, before it could use it...

**-wwllllaaabbbboooom-**

Mana fired off her main cannon and the hot-yellow beam met no opposition, with Hikari's field still doing its work to neutralize the other one. The sheer force of the beam had no trouble to rip through the cracked armour like through butter. A huge spray of blood escaped, but the sheer heat and power had instantly vaporised the insides of the monster, leaving nothing that could explode.

The monster stood for one more second, before the remains fell apart, falling into the lake.

"Thanks for the rescue. Guess you are now even with these things?" Hikari thanked her, while Unit-04 moved out of the now blood-red lake.

"Statisfied, yes. Even, no. We all won't be even with these things, until they are all scrapped," Mana remarked, while taking off again. She didn't want to show it, but today had been a very hard day for her. When she'd finally get out of the cockpit, she was sure she'd get a crying fit. Only her concentration on the current situation held her together.

Being a child-soldier was bound to sooner or later demand a price.

o

"The special forces from around the world report that they have eliminated the higher-up's of SEELE," Lt. Aoba reported, but then looked at the last message. "However, chairman Keel managed to escape. His whereabouts are currently unknown."

"That fits with this weasel. He's not so naive to not plan for the case of emergency," Ryoji commented, having learned during his time his triple-agent that Keel was not one to underestimate. "I sincerely doubt that we've heard the last of him."

"He won't come far," the Vice-Commander added. "He's now a wanted man in the entire world. Sooner or later he'll be caught. It is only a matter of time."

However, right then they were interrupted when Lt. Aoba got another message. "Radar posts have detected something traveling through the upper atmosphere with far higher speed than should be possible. It is very big and of unknown design. Course calcultion determines Germany as starting point and our position as landing point."

Ritsuko didn't like that in the slightest. It smelled of trouble. "Use our satellites. We have to get a clearer picture."

"One moment..." Lt. Hyuga tried to get the needed connection, then his eyebrows rose. "No kind of blue pattern, but an AT-field. This is why it is so fast without running into atmospheric trouble. We can't get a closer look, since some kind of outer hell shields the object off. The ETA is in 20 minutes."

"I guess we now have our answer what he is doing..." Ryoji remarked.

Meanwhile on the battlefield, Shinji was busy with kicking his opponent into what on humans would be the crotch. Surprisingly, it did have an effect, and the beast jumped away while howling in pain. However, Shinji had no eye for that, instead looked concerned to the small screen where he saw the exhausted face of his mother. She'd been like this ever since the energy net had been broken, only recovering slowly.

"Mom, are you all right?" he finally asked in concern, now that he had a moment to spare with no enemy near.

Yui tried to compose herself, but it visibly cost her concentration. "Don't worry... I'm just exhausted... When they tried to initiate Third Impact... that hurt a lot. And please don't ask, how this is possible." She paused a moment, already sensing his next question. "As for if it hurt a lot, you did hear my screaming, right? Just imagine some shoving a cattle prod up where the sun doesn't shine and then turn in on full power. That's how much it did hurt."

"Shinji grimaced. "Ouch..."

"Yes, ouch. I'll recover but you have to promise me something. Promise me that you'll make them sorry for doing that to me!"

"Right away!" Shinji had no trouble to make that promise. That these mosters had really hurt his mother only served to make him even more determined to make sure that none of them would be alive at sunset.

They all did well right now and the numbers were now almost even. However, he was concerned about Rei and Asuka. Rei had used much strength in stopping Third Impact, and she really needed a break to catch her breath. Asuka on the other hand concerned him, because she was so quiet.

He couldn't see into her mind, but it was clear that the she was shocked that her recklessness had almost caused Thrid Impact by forcing him to enter the fray. While Asuka before had been full of anger and rage, she now was not saying anything; no insults against their foes. While this was somewhat concerning, it seemed it also had scared some sense into the girl, as she now no longer did any dangerous moves.

Right then, his communication window opened. "Shinji, you and the others have to stop messing around. Something big is on the way, and you have 20 minutes to get these Evangelions out of the way, before it arrives!" Misato warned him.

_So SEELE has one last ace up the sleeve..._ "Right away, Misato!"

"PILOTS ASSEMBLE!" he called and the others didn't question him while flocking to his side.

Rei held a lance she'd picked up from one of the defeated Evangelions, while Hikari held a heavy mortar gun ready. Asuka held her prog knife ready while Toji quickly picked up a halberd from a storage in the ground.

Standing together, all five Evangelions faced their enemies. Time had come to settle this score once and forever.

_**...to be continued**_

_**Next up, the final part of the finale: "End of Evangelion"

* * *

**_

_I want to give you some background stuff about the story creation process. This time I'll show how I developed the personalities and oddities of the various Angels and how they differ from the canon._

_First off I have to say that at the beginning of my writing activities, I actually had little idea of what to do with the Angels. Some time during the first chapter I decided to let them be highly intelligent and gave them insight into their thoughts. However, only before starting with Ramiel did I decide to make a plan for all Angels and expanded their parts to give deeper insights into the motivations and personalities._

_**Adam**_

_Surprisingly, for a long time I had no idea what to actually do with Adam. While I gave hints that Lilith betrayed him and his children love him, only almost halfway through the story did I decide that Adam would be one of the good guys so Tabris started hint-dropping that Adam would turn against SEELE's plans._

_Then I also decided to let the "Giant of Light" make his return, something that the canon denied us. I finally fleshed out his personality, making him somewhat naive in the past (though he now knows better) and overall a nice guy, honorable and having respect for life. To put it blunty, he actually does deserve to be called an angel._

_Compared to his embarrassing end in EoE I decided to have him face Lilith in a final confrantation._

_**Lilith**_

_Lilith's personality, compared to Adam, came to me far earlier. I always wondered why the Angels come to Tokyo-3, until it hit me that Lilith was luring them to their death. From there it was only a short way to decide that Lilith is the second villan in the story (the first being SEELE). Right in the first chapter I made Sachiel reveal that they hate Lilith. I quickly made Lilith full of hate and deceit, hinting at her insanity. I also let Tabris drop hints of Lilith being quite the bitch._

_However, the backstory in all details only came to me when I started the chapters where Kaworu appears in Tokyo-3. Making her the ultimate backstabber I felt would make a good contrast to the good-hearted Adam._

_Since I wanted to avoid the embarrassing fate of Lilith in EoE, I decided to let her betray and murder Tabris to gain power, only to have a final confrontation with Adam._

_**Sachiel**_

_Since Sachiel appeared right in the first chapter, I had no plan how to write him (I decided on a whim that Sachiel is male, since he looks male). As said above, I only in the middle of the chapter decided to give insight on his thoughts, thus why he's so strangely quiet in the first half and also has little to say._

_His personality isn't as detailed as that of later Angels, although he does give some exposition on the backstory. I just made him loyal to his father Adam, otherwise he pretty much was the ordinary guy among the Angels._

_His battle pretty much goes like in canon, although instead of squeezing his arms to mush, Unit-01 rips out one of his arms, which I thought is cooler. I also don't mind his Rebuild-version, since he looks and acts the same, only more detailed._

_**Shamshel**_

_As with Sachiel, I had little plan how to write Shamshel. I made Shamshel female because I wanted to show that Angel could be boys or girls, and because it made the dildo-joke even more hilarious._

_While she has a little more to say, she still isn't as talkative as later Angels. Her personality also reflects how little thought I put into it, her basic trait is just that she's a battle-bitch with an anger problem and wanting to avenge the death of her brother._

_Again the fight went almost exactly the same, although this time instead of impaling Unit-01 with the whips, Shamshel tries to strangle it, and therefore Shinji. As with Sachiel, the Rebuild version of Shamshel I don't mind. She still looks and acts the same, only visually updated to more detail._

_**Ramiel**_

_This is where my appoach changed significantly. I finally decided on what to do with the Angels and made a plan, also wanted to make them more detailled. Ramiel profited from this first, when I tried to approach him with more care._

_Ramiel, I decided, is male, because his name sounded male and his physical appearance gives no indicators at all. I put more efford into his personality and he also has much more to say. His main trait, I decided, is that he is a cold fish, holding his emotions under control while being soley concentrated on his mission (reflecting his physical appearance). He also is very arrogant and feels superior because of his abilities. However, as I reveal later, beneath that control, Ramiel can become quite choleric and does have an anger problem (thus why he tries to hold firm control over himself)._

_His battle goes mostly the same. However, the first mis-shot actually severes his drill, resulting in Ramiel actually being on the attack, approaching the mountain._

_Also, after watching Rebuild, I stand firm to the classic Ramiel with no gimmicky shape-changing. The classic Ramiel needed no shape-changing to get the same results, even seems more powerful. The only thing I acknowledge is, that the Rebuild drill can be used in my story (I never said how Ramiel creates his drill)._

_**Gaghiel**_

_I decided right away when remembering Gaghiel's appearance, that he's male as I couldn't imagine a female shark. Also, when taking that into account, I decided right away, That Gaghiel is more animalistic than any of the other Angels, resulting in him thinking more like a caveman, something for which the other Angels pity him for. This also results in his thought processes being quite simple. The formula then already was complete._

_I always found the Gaghiel fight gimmicky and stupid, so I spared us a long-drawn fight with the stupid underwater section, and instead made them kill Gaghiel by a knife-throw directy into his core at the back of his throat._

_**Israfel**_

_I'm not exactly sure why I made Israfel male. His gimmick of splitting in two, I decided right away to expand on his entire personality. While he is only a single person, he always speaks and thinks with two voices at the same time; something for which the other Angels found him to be an oddball. Since stereo-speaking is impossible to write, it looks as if he says everything two times._

_As for his remaining personality, I wanted him to be mostly concentrated on his task, mostly not aiming for a fight. However, should it come to that, I had him love to be unfair in order to win battles (his splitting in two). However, when later Rei and Shinji emulate him, he shows to be pissed that they dare to copy his gimmick._

_However, the fight itself is the same, with only Rei replacing Asuka._

_**Sandalphon**_

_I decided that it wouldn't fit for Sandalphon to be female, so he became male. When remembering his ususual story in the canon, I quickly came to the idea that this was a fuck-up on his part, explaining that he literally is a personification of Murphy's law, having an infamous bad luck. I also made him very intolerant and angry when seeing an Evangelion._

_I always had difficulties with the fight itself, so I wanted to give it a little change, so having Sandalphon react very bad to the sudden temperature and pressure difference outside the valcano seemed to be the best idea and his death is quite gory._

_**Matarael**_

_Creating the personality of Matarael proved to be a challenge, since we saw only little in canon of this one._

_First off I decided that since there had been so many male Angels, Matarael had to be female. It also fit because female spiders are known to be much more dominant. When looking at the Angel's behaviour, I found that her appearing right during the blackout couldn't have been a coincidence, so I made her having waited for exactly that moment. The rest came quick; that she's sneaky and deceitful, actually not wanting a fight because of her weakness._

_The actual battle had been very disppointin for me in canon, so I decided to show that Matarael actually does have offensive weapons. She can shoot out her acid from her other eyes and its frighteningly effective. She also is capable of shooting throns at her foes. Funny fact is, that this is probably the only Angel the army could have killed with the N², but they didn't do it this time._

_End result still the same, only this time she gets perforated by all three Evangelions, since she never managed to release her acid into the shaft._

_**Sahaquiel**_

_For what I imagined Sahaquiel, being female didn't work, so I made him male. Seeing his suicide run in canon, I couldn't help but to wonder what was going on inside him to do something this insane. Then I remembered WW2 kamikaze bombers, and had one part of the answer._

_In the end, I made him psychologically instable, which had caused him from being a joyous person to turn into a depressed creature witheach death of his siblings, losing the will to live. Mixed with his huge acceptance of honor and sacrifice, it turned him into an absolutely will kamikaze bomber, who knew he wouldn't survive, but that another silbling would then rescue their father. His depresison also explains why he didn't simply bomb Tokyo-3 from orbit (he wasn't thinking rational anymore)._

_The battle (if you can call it that) mostly is the same. However, instead of Asuka, Rei destroys him. Also, after seeing his Rebuild-version, I stand firm to his classic appearance. I feel that the Rebuild Sahaquiel looks stupid and gimmicky._

_**Iruel**_

_This is, where things really went different, the up to then most-changed Angel._

_I felt that Iruel needed to be female to bump up the number of girl Angels, and that actually met perfectly with my plans. When thinking about Iruel and what personality she could have, I saw my System Shock box, and at once got it. Shodan, the cold and murderous AI was the role model. I modeled Iruel closely after her, being cunning, intelligent, arrogant, seeing mankind merely as insects and having the same speech patterns as her._

_I decided to really derail her story, since the canon one was pretty lame. I had the idea that this would be ideal for the Angels starting to directly taunt them, and Iruel does make herself known. She also does retreat, thus creating a second, real battle._

_The second battle came from my wish to let Iruel show what she REALLY can do. Taking over the JA and turning it into a killing machine came to me when wondering, how to make her dangerous and remembering that piece of junk. The battle gave me chance to show Iruel's arrogance and the first battle with five Evangelions._

_**Liliel**_

_At first I had no idea what personality Liliel could have. The name sounded female to me, and since I needed more female Angels, Leliel became female. Watching the episode, it hit me that Leliel could have easily destroyed them all, why she didn't had to be in her personality._

_So I decided to make her very lazy, as shown in the episode where she doesn't even bother with attacking them, since she leisurely would pick them one after the other. I also decided to make her obese and a glutton, going with her tendency to eat whole city blocks. She's too laid back to be angry and I eliminated the specualtion, that she wants to learn more about mankind._

_The battle goes different in that Asuka instead of Shinji is eaten (Shinji had no psychological problems, while Asuka did) and instead of the mess of the canon, she gets scared straight. Needless to say, Unit-02 creates the same bloodboth, showing that Asuka's mother is also very protective of her._

_**Bardiel**_

_The fact that Unit-03 was out of Bardiel's reach already made it clear to me, that this would be quite different from the canon. I made Bardiel male and first wondered about his personality. Judging by his plan to hijack an EVA in canon, I decided that he's very clever and had analyzed the battles to find their weakness, thus taking over a vehicle to take a hostage, since he knows the pilots care. I also made him arrogant and overconfident, since he obviously never took in account that something could screw up his plans._

_Since he couldn't reach an Evangelion, I decided that he should take over the Trident, which also gave Mana a more prominent role. However, the end result is the same, as the dummy plug slaughters his host body. Other than in canon however, Mana survives without lasting injury, the dummy plug is destroyed and Bardiel isn't finished._

_I have to admit, that I was frustrated how we never see Bardiel's true form, so making him a Dragon that is a Hydra was my original idea, since I like dragons. I also incorporated his leathal secretions. That part of the battle against the other four EVA's is completely my own invention._

_**Zeruel**_

_I have to admit that the idea for Zeruel's character was planted even before writing the story. I read an article that speculated that Sachiel and Zeruel look so similar and share some abilities, that they are very close related (despite all having the some parents), the big and little brother. I liked the concept so much, that I took it over for my story._

_Here, Zeruel had been a pacifist, but the death of his little brother Sachiel enraged him so much, that he now only want revenge. While he does care for his father, his main fury goes against Unit-01, as he wants to avenge his brother. I found the idea that the unstoppable juggernaught is a grieving brother who is incedibly pissed, something really new._

_That said, the battle goes mostly the same, but with some deviances. Toji and Hikari are defeated on the surface without trouble. Zeruel doesn't behead Unit-02. He also doesn't break open the central shaft, instead he sets an ultimatum. The battle against Shinji also has differences, but his end is the same as in canon. Rebuild note: I dislike his re-design. The original Zeruel had looked cool. The new one looked... I just looked wrong. I didn't like it._

_**Arael**_

_After two male Angels, it again was time for a female Angel. In fanfiction, Arael is often written as somewhat benevolent and not hostile. The canon give little hint, so I decided to do my own thing and deconstruct the normal view on her. I decided to put this on its head. Here, Arael once had been peaceful and empathic, but constantly searching through the thoughts of people had made her go totally insane (even Angels have limits) and even her siblings avoid her._

_While she still has enough intelligence to know she'd to rescue her father, her insanity makes her a true sadist who feels pleasure at torturing people. She also has a strange fixation on brains, a consequence of how she lost her mind._

_The battle goes the same, only that instead of Asuka, Toji and Hikari are her victims._

_**Armisael**_

_I was at a loss how to write Armisael. In canon the Angel was lonely, but in my story, that didn't work after having siblings for billions of years. So I scrapped it and decided to do my own thing. Armisael is male and his sibilings thought of him having lost contact to the ground, being with his thoughts always somewhere else. I also made him a very made philosopher and smart-ass, as the crew has to endure it the entire time. The other side of his personality is cruel and deceitful. I followed with it the banality of evil, where cruel dictators were nice people in private life. I made Armisael have these two faces as well._

_The physical battle is different because of all pilots being available. While the Angel still bonds with Rei and Shinji, the others can't hurt it then and Rei doesn't blow up her Unit-00. I made Armisael tempt Rei and Shinji like the snake in the graden Eden (playing on Armisael's body form), since I found it interesting and would allow for character moments. Some might find it corny that the power of their love made the Angel vulnerable, but I found it fitting._

_And I had to admit, how the other pilots then take revenge on Armisael was very pleasing for me to write._

_**Tabris**_

_I have to admit, he was the most complicated of the Angels to write. At first I only knew what he shouldn't be. The homosexual flavor of the canon was a turn-off for meand I felt that he actually acted like a jerk. I wanted him to have more screentime without becoming an attention-whore as sadly happened in the manga._

_I decided to slowly develop him while writing chapters, so I gave him numerous small apeearances with Keel. It helped me to flesh out Tabris, who finds mankind fascinating and actually does not wish them ill. Only when writing Armisael did I have the big idea, that I should get him together with Asuka. I finally had found Tabris' character as someone who is overwhelmed of life and everything that comes with it, trying to sort out his emotions._

_When it finally comes to battle, there are broken hearts and Lilith actually traps Tabris, leading to the events of the finale._

_Next time I'll talk about about how I developed several ideas in my story._


	42. Adam and Lilith Part 3

I will say these things in advance: I have absolutely no rights to NGE, but you should have already known that.

Finally decided to clean up the disclaimers, in case you wonder where the usual disclaimer has went.

The final battle is on. Can our heroes survive?

NOTE: I have started to re-compile the story in pdf-format with better formatting and lots of pictures (a number I had to tweak). I'll send the first and second book (which cover the first 28 chapters) to everyone interested. The third book is almost done as well.

Also, I have written numerous intersting things at the end of this chapter.

After you've read the chapter, **please Review!** Please tell me your opinion. I promise to answer every review I get.

* * *

**Chapter 41: Adam and Lilith- Part 3 -End of Evangelion**

The battle, which already had been pretty intense to begin with, now was more brutal than before. It seemed that their enemies had finally managed to regain some of their confidence and were now very agressive and fighting with the power of desperation.

Not that it now was doing them any good. The Evangelion pilots were now very motivated to win the battle and for every time they got hit, they hit back thrice.

Despite the battle raging and her taking part in it, Asuka was essentially running on auto-pilot. She still hadn't completely digested the fact that thanks to her recklessness, Shinji had been forced to enter the fray, which in turn had almost meant the end of the world. The fact that her hot-headedness had almost killed them all had scared her to no end and made her anger, which had been growing in the shadow of her grief, evaporate in no time. In simpler terms, she'd been scared straight.

And now that she'd recovered from that scare, she felt ashamed that thanks to her, Kaworu's sacrifice had almost been for nothing. From shock grew shame, from that shame grew understanding of why she'd let herself go like this, and from the understanding grew determination to not lose control again and show their enemies, that they'd never stop fighting back.

**-spoooosh-**

Looking up, she saw what had made that sound. Unit-01 had slammed one of the big blades (they normally never use these things for actual combat, no idea why NERV even had them) into the shoulder of one of the monsters. The beast was howling in pain, but was silenced, when Shinji slammed down the sword again, this time he cleanly hacked off its head and shreddered the dummy plug in a fountain of blood and guts.

Regardless how much of that she'd already seen, Asuka knew that a small part of her had never gotten over how gross it was and felt like getting sick.

However, she had to cut her thoughts short when one of the monsters attacked her, forcing her to concentrate on hitting back.

Meanwhile, Hikari was fighting her own enemy.

She'd have never thought that she could feel so much anger, but these monsters were obviously revealing her wild side. Right at the moment she was giving one of the monsters a beating that would make Toji proud. Her strikes at the cracks in the armour were effective and oviously hurt the monster a lot, judging by all the blood that by now covered the white-painted armour.

She then noticed Unit-03 approaching from behind the monster, a captured lance in hands. Hikari quickly gave the beast a hard hit on the head that made it bend over and Toji used the moment to strike and...

**"Ahhhiiiiii-iii-iiii-i"**

If not not for such a serious situation, she'd have laughed. Toji had literally shoven the lance up the monster's ass and it reacted with a long, girlish scream that didn't fit at all with the image of the tough destroyer. She didn't waste any time and gripped the armor on the beast's lower neck, ripping it off to expose the dummy plug. However, the thing obviously knew what was about to happen and made it impossible for her to get a grip on it.

"All right, then the hard way!" Hikari took hold of the head and jerked it to the side with all might, breaking the neck in the process and forcing out the dummy plug, which she promptly smashed with a fist. The monster went limp the very second its brain was smashed to mush.

However, she had little time to feel statisfaction when seeing that Asuka was struggling with her enemy. "Toji, pull the spear out!" Toji did that, and Hikari picked up the dead Evangelion, holding it over her head. "Out of the way, Asuka!"

Asuka didn't ask questions, slammed her knee into her foe to get loose and jumped to the side. Her enemy turned around but had no time to react when Hikari threw the body. It slammed hard into the beast, which screamed in pain, blood from the body splashing all over it. Stunned from the impact, the Evangelion fell to its knees and Asuka didn't waste the opportunity.

She didn't hesitate to first break off the covering on its neck, before repeatedly stabbing her knife into the dummy plug. The monster howled, tried to get up, but a well-placed fist on the head prevented this, while blood and LCL shot out of the now ruined plug. Asuka didn't stop stabbing until the body fell to the ground, unmoving.

The three remaining hostile Evangelions finally seemed to become aware that they were on the losing side. They abandoned their effords to fight and instead grouped together, using their lances to hold everyone away. It was an admission of defeat. However, it also meant something else.

"These bastards. They seem to know that something is on the way and they try to stall until it arrives, whatever it is," Misato grumbled, while watching on the main screen how the remaining EVA-Series held everyone away. Then she looked to Lt. Aoba. "Shigeru?"

"Already on it!" He quickly went on to check to ether and found what he was looking for. "Yes, there is a channel open between them and whatever is approaching is. Seems to be giving orders to them."

"Of course. When does that thing arrive?" she then asked Lt. Hyuga.

"Any second it should be visible. It has cleared the upper atmosphere... Wait! There it is!" He put the picture on the main screen.

At first they only saw something that looked like a fireball. But then the picture zoomed in and the object started to slow down. It looked like a big capsule with a propulsion system strapped on it. Despite the air burning around it, there wasn't a spot on it, proof of how an AT-field protected it. They already knew that the capsule was only for transportation, and that whatever was in it would be the true threat.

"Major, the dimensions of the capsule are huge. Calculations indicate that whatever is in there should be about twice the size of an Evangelion," Lt. Hyuga reported further. "Also...wait, we have activity!"

By now the capsule had significantly slowed down. Then, with a small explosion, the engines seperated. Further small explosions seperated the outer shell, freeing a huge object, which fell towards the city below. It didn't have wings like the EVA-Series, but obviously didn't need them, as mere meters above the ground an AT-field came into being, allowing a soft landing.

The pilots gulped when seeing what was facing them.

It was an Evangelion, so much was clear. However, this one was easily twice the size of a normal unit, painted as black as the moonless night. Six white-glowing eyes looked dangerously at them, crowned by four devilsh horns growing out of its head. Its mid-section was covered in spikes. However, the most remarkable feature were the six arms, three on each side, which all had their own joints and moved indepentently.

Facing them was a monster.

The three remaining EVA-Series at once spread out their wings and flew to their master's side. They looked like dwarves next to it, but they didn't seem to care, holding their lances to defend the huge Evangelion with their very lives.

"I don't know about you, people, but that somehow reminds me when I was confronted with an angry panda bear during a trip to China when I was nine," Toji slowly said, having the futile hope that it would pull a panda and simply lose interest.

"This is...a very... unfortunate situation...for us." Rei was trying to regain her breath. All the strength from the other Rei had left her by now, leaving her drained and feeling like she really needed a break. She was unable to do much more, now with the threat of collapsing in exhaustion looming over her.

Then a strong signal from the intruder went through all the communication systems.

Most of the people had no idea who the man on the screen was, so Gendo decided that some exposition was needed. "Well, well... Chairman Keel. I have to say I'm surprised that you have decided to join the battle yourself. I wouldn't have expected that after all the years of you pulling the strings in the background..."

Keel snorted, his visor glowing an angry red the entire time. "Do not play games with me, Ikari! Thanks to your meddling, decades of planning were ruined... Now mankind can no longer ascend and our glorious future is gone. I will at least have the consolation of making you and your lackeys pay for this atrocity. And I have the tool for it."

Fuyutsuki raised an eyebrow. "Impossible! Only children born after Second Impact have the gift to pilot an Evangelion. How did you manage to overcome this?"

Keel looked smug. "Sure, but this only goes if they actually synchronise with the unit..." He indicated to the wiring that connected his cybernetics to the inside of the plug, which wasn't filled with LCL and had various tactical displays. "My cybernetics are directly hardwired into the Evangelion. I won't feel any pain... it is just a glorified puppet thinking it has an actual pilot."

"Impressive," Ritsuko had to admit. "He accomplished what we had never been able to create: a completely controlled Evangelion."

"This is pointless. Even if you do manage to kill us all, there is nowhere for you to go," Fuyutsuki reminded Keel, only getting a short laugh as an answer.

"Of course I know that. My time is up... I have nothing left to lose now, and all opportunity to at least see all of you go down with me," he calmly told them. "I do not like getting my hands dirty, but this one time, I will make an exception."

"And this is your last word?" Gendo calmly asked him.

"Yes."

"I thought so... Pilots, there is little choice. Stop Chairman Keel. Disable, if possible, kill... if needed," he commanded, knowing that this was the only way now to resolve the whole issue. No more talking, just brute force to get a final result.

The pilots calmly acknowledged. They had no illusions; they knew that this one would fight until the bitter end. Despite feeling somewhat unwell about it, the knowledge that Keel was one of the few people who did deserve death helped to hold their scruples small.

Keel smiled nasty, when seeing his enemies preparing for an attack. "Now you will learn the true power of my Black Ace."

o

Unheard because of the lack of air, a newly awakened volacno on the moon started to sprew its deadly contents over the dead surface. Earth's natural satellite was rocked by powers that re-awakened its long sleeping natural forces, leading to horrible volcanic outbursts, filling huge lava lakes, quakes that ripped gaping chasms into the surface and which created new mountains.

The people of Earth right now had little way of knowing that would this fight have been faught on their planet, it would have been in huge danger of becoming uninhabitable. Only thanks to Adam's quick thinking were they spared this fate.

In the middle of this destruction, the two responsible faught on, throwing around horrible powers.

Adam had lost a lot of his concentration and collectedness with Lilith continuing to needle him with how much she despised their children, speaking ill of them and doing everything to enrage him more than he already was. And it actually worked, as Adam was by now throwing around attacks left and right while she mostly kept on the defensive.

_**This fool. He doesn't even notice that this is exactly what I want him to do,**_ she thought smugly, while preparing for the next salvo. After all, she never had had a heart that would tell her to stop this.

_**"Well, well, well, Adam. Looks like I hurt you a little... What's the matter? Can't accept that you were such a lousy father that all of them are now dead meat?"**_ she provoked him again, hoping he's waste even more energy.

Another heartache overcame Adam. Lilith had managed to gain access to his grief and had mocked him for it The rational part of his mind knew that he was playing right into her hands by totally losing control of himself, but rational thoughts weren't much of a factor when grief and sadness turned into anger. She'd hurt him at his most vulnerable spot and now twisted the knife in the wound. This was bound to make him mad.

_**"SILENCE!"**_ Behind him, a new valcano errupted, lava starting to finall the crater in which they stood. _**"How dare you?"**_

_**"Quite easy, because I don't care."**_ Liltih was pleased with noticing that Adam's power already was down considerably. A little longer with no time for him to recover and he'd be so exhausted that she could overpower him. Adam had always been so easy to manipulate.

Both of them didn't even feel the lava that by now had turned their battleground into a boiling lake of molten rock. Adam stared at Lilith in a mixtured of hate and disbelief, as if he still had trouble to connect this cold creature to the illusion of billions of years ago. He said nothing more, instead gathered lightning with one hand to attack her again.

Lilith quickly raised her arms and a shield went into place, deflecting the lightning bolts that impacted against it a second later.

_**"What was this supposed to be? Are you getting slow on your old days?" **_she mocked, coaxing him to use another high-power attack.

Adam didn't waste a second and attacked her directly. This took her enough by surprise that he was able to sock her and she flew into the lava lake. However, while it had hurt, she wasn't too much injured and cursed her carelessness while sending a lava wave towards Adam, forcing him to vacate the lake towards a near hill.

_**Stupid error...**_ Lilith scolded herself.

Standing on a small hill while trying to get his hammering heart under control, Adam waited for Lilith's next move. He felt fratigue slowly creeping up, something which his anger had covered up until this moment. The fight had taken out much more from him than it should have, proof that he simply wasn't fully recovered yet. This of course finally made him realize what Lilith had intended with the whole thing.

_**Idiot! IDIOT!**_ he berated himself. _**She must have planned this right from the start. She'd only toyed with me...**_

He had no time for further regrets, when he suddenly saw Lilith approach, her eyes glowing with power. _**"You had your fun, Adam. Now it is my turn!"**_

An explosion blow the hill apart and Adam landed roughly on the ground almost a kilometer away. _**"You bitch... You made me waste my energy."**_

Lilith gave off a short laugh. _**"So you finally caught on? -Snort- The Ancient Ones really did a bad job on you. To make you not like me, they turned you into a simpleton. An error which will now cost you..."**_

Adam jumped out of the way just in time, before seven energy beams shot out of Lilith's eyes and turned the ground where he'd been a second ago into white-hot plasma. Unlike him, she obviously still had lots of energy to spare and now made use of it to force him to run away from her attacks. Easier said than done, since she now was using the big guns to keep him on the run.

_**I need a new plan, or I'm toast...**_

However, it was difficult to think about a new strategy while Lilith was blowing up the ground left and right, keeping him on the run.

o

They'd thought it would be easy.

They'd thought that it was just an overgrown Evangelion with six arms. Nothing to fear.

Now they knew that they'd been dead wrong.

Normally the first thing on their aganda would be to get his field to fizzle out so that they could do actual damage. However, Keel was not about to do them this favor. His three guards had turned quite competent with keeping them away from him, and Keel then had shown him the next surprise. SEELE had managed to replicate the AT-field breaching of the lances also into smaller projectiles, as Toji had to learn the hard way, when suddenly a thorn-shaped bullet went cleanly through his field and into the left hand of Unit-03.

That had taught them to scatter and try to stay out of his field of vision, since the next projectile easily could slam into a head or chest, probably with fatal consequences (Toji was still in pain, even after pulling out the projectile).

"Ah... so now you got scared and try to hide. Tsk, looks like I have to remind you that this is not how the game is played," Keel mocked them, when seeing them hide in the ruins of Tokyo-3.

The front of his shoulder pylons opened, and he sent forth a wave of three dozend missiles. However, to their great surprise, the missilies weren't even aimed at them. Instead, they targeted the holding bolts of the retracted buildings. The bolts had already been heavily damaged from all the fighting and the superstructure that was holding them on the ceiling of the geofront barely held.

**-Braooom- Brrraam-**

These explosions finally were too much for the bolts, and they broke under the stress. The delicate electric systems went up into flames as the surrounding superstructure broke, causing part of the city to follow the call of gravity.

**-ccrroooonnncchhh-**

With a deep rumble, numerous buildings broke lose and fell below into the geofront, whole parts of Tokyo-3 fell with them, impacting hard on the ground, one building directly striking the headquarters, breaking off part of the pyramid in the process. The lights flickered on the bridge when the whole HQ shook under the stress of the impacts.

"Damage report!" Misato called, while getting up.

"No bigger damages to our internal systems, but the army camp inside the geofront is half burried! The attack destroyed the Evangelion catapults. The geofront around the headquarters is littered with fallen buildings, another attack will cause the entire structure of Tokyo-3 to collapse, burrying us alive," Lt. Hyuga hastily reported.

As if to underline this, a faint groan from the superstructure reminded them of this fact.

Gendo's mood darkened significantly. _This is exactly like Keel... Now that there is nothing left, he wants to take us with him. Oh no... you won't get the statisfaction!_

He spoke to the pilots directly. "Try to get him out of the city. Another salvo and the entire city complex collapses upon us. You need to lure him away as fast as possible."

"I sincerely doubt that we can simply lure him away," Shinji returned with doubt in his voice. In it also was the confusion over his father's behaviour and if he actually had been wrong and should give him a second chance.

"Leave it to me and your mother to distract him enough that he doesn't realize that." Seeing Yui on the screen, he gave her a visual sign to wait for now, before looking down. "Connect me, I want to change some words with him."

"Well, Ikari? What could be so important that you lower yourself to contact me while I'm busy?" Keel didn't waste any time and the mocking undertone was very clear. He had now no reason to any longer be diplomatic. "So unsure of your victory?"

"I never questioned our victory. However, after your reveal of this machine, I connot help but being intruiged about what else you could have done that has escaped our attention," Gendo started to bait him.

"Ikari, this is no movie... I'm not one of these villans who reveal all of their plans," Keel again mocked him. "Surely you can be more creative?"

"Indeed, I can be..." He then gave the sign for Yui to link into the communication.

She appeared in a smaller window on the communication screen and Keel fell silent when seeing it. Silence lasted for several seconds, until Yui broke it. "I see I did manage to surprise you, Keel. In case you doubt it, only the genuine Yui Ikari can know how you threatened my son while I was still carrying him to term. I've waited a long time for finally being able to confront you."

Finally, Keel gathered himself. "Impressive and unexpected. It is quite a feat that you managed to withold from me that she can communicate with the outside world."

"Which proves that you don't know everything." Her eyes then narrowed. "I've wondered ever since... You greenlighted me testing if I am capable of piloting. You knew from the beginning that it needed a human soul, didn't you?"

Having regained his cool, Keel smirked. "You are as smart as they say. Of course I knew. It served our cause well to see Gendo Ikari being turned into a fanatic by losing you. It also got you out of our hair, as we knew by then that you were trying to sabotage us."

"You knew the entire time?" Gendo hadn't expected to hear this.

"Oh yes. With this little 'accident', we managed to not only stop your plans, but also made Unit-01 useful. You never knew how useful you'd both been, despite your pitful plans you obviously had later."

Yui had expected this, so she wasn't surprised to hear it being confirmed. Instead she gave Keel a smile that distubed the old man, as it wasn't the reaction he'd expected. "Clever, indeed..." she imitated his speech patterns. "However, you did overlook something."

"Something that you, despite your extraordinary powers of manipulation, did not learn. What our pilots know." Gendo paused for the dramatic effect, seeing what was happening right at the moment on a different screen. "NEVER get distracted in battle"

Keel looked up, only to see that he'd been outsmarted. During the whole conversation, he'd practically run on auto-pilot and followed the pilots out of the city into the surrounding landscape and thin urban sprawl. And as if to underline the bad news, right at this moment, Unit-02 and 03 held one of the EVA-Series over their heads, throwing it at him.

He reacted on instinct, before he could even realise that it was counter-productive.

**-BOOOOOMMMMMM-**

The EVA didn't even have the time to scream, before six simultaneous energy beams from all six hands hit it point blank inside the AT-field, blowing it to pieces in under a second, setting the surroundings ablaze. Blinded by the explosion, Keel needed some seconds to look to his enemies, who by now had fled to hide in the hilly terrian beyond the city limits. It was an open challenge to him to try and find them.

"Alright. If you brats want to play it this way..."

He ordered his remaining two bodyguards to open their wings and take flight in order to find their enemies. Then he himself started to slowly wander forward, knowing that they could hide behind the next hill. By now most of the day had went by, the battle of Tokyo-3 having lasted long hours, and the sun had started to set. The early dusk painted everything in shades of orange, a strangely beautiful display in face of all the destruction caused over the last hours.

_"Hostile located. Hostile located."_

Looking to the screen, he saw Unit-00 on it. However, not for long, as it suddenly threw the lance it still had and the screen went dark. He had no illusions what just had happened. The lance had went through the field and had hit the unit bad enough that the video feed was lost. This usually meant a total loss. The EVA-Series had proven to be less useful than thought. While they'd been great in battle before, losses on their side had weakened them considerably, leading to defeat.

_Ich kann mich nicht auf den Letzten verlassen. Ich muss das persönlich erledigen,_ (I can't rely on the last one. I have to do this personally,) he thought, while scanning his surroundings.

**-Booorrrooommm-**

Looking to his left, he saw smoke rising from behind one hill. No doubt the result of the last unit being ambushed and destroyed before it could even report. A very disappointing development. But then he saw something he'd overlooked. Zooming in, he saw the pest that had made life difficult by reporting on him constantly.

"No hints from the peanut gallery!"

"Oh shit!" Mana cursed. She'd managed to stay out of sight the entire time, giving her friends video feeds and every tactical information needed to kill the last two hostile units. She'd given them a big tactical advantage. But now it seemed that Keel had decided to get her out of comission.

Yanking the Trident around, she barely managed to evade an energy beam that would have sliced right through the hull. She had no time to take a beath when several more beams followed, and it was only a matter of time, before one of them would hit the big machine. Then it suddenly happened. The whole Trident shook while it became very difficult to steer.

"Damage report!"

_"Turbines 1 and 2 destroyed. We have to land immediately or we will crash,"_ the AI reported, while trying to isolate the damaged sections.

_Damn... I'm not finished yet, but let's not say that aloud._ "My engines are damaged. I have to bail out. Sorry that I wasn't more of a help..." That said, she steered the Trident away, to land in a dafe distance.

Rei watched the Tridet vanish from her sight, a trail of smoke following the damaged machine. Now they were completely on their own, as the battle cameras of Tokyo-3 were not present in this area. Taking a deep breath, she tried to calm down. The battles -and especially her power surge- had cost her much strength and she still needed to recover from it. Hopefully she could evade Keel long enough to get back some of her strength.

Hiding behind a hill, Hikari nervously was waiting, hearing the heavy footsteps from the other side. He was closer that she liked, and none of the others was right now in sight. She'd barely managed to pull her cable out of sight and felt the vibrations coming from the giant that was searching for her. She carefully scanned the far side of the hill, until she saw it.

Taking hold of a captured lance, she waited until the monster had walked past, its back towards her, before throwing the lance towards it.

However, to her horror, the head of the overgrown Evangelion suddenly turned 180° and two of its six arms caught the lance and proceeded to twist it into an unusuable something, before dropping it to the ground. Hikari did the only smart thing, since there was no way she alone could manage to break through the defenses. She ran.

Missiles and projectiles barely missed her and set the whole surroundings ablaze, turning the once peaceful setting into a raging inferno. It also managed to cut her cable and the counter of her battery power started. "Guys, I need help here! Fast, he just cut my cable! I... AHHHHH!"

One of the field-ignoring projectiles had cleanly went through the left leg, the pain being very real for her. Stumbling, Unit-04 fell down, the Black Ace towering over it. Before Keel could finish her off however, Unit-03 had arrived and hit him in the back with a jump kick. Not that this hurt him in any way...

"Oh sh..." Toji was unable to add anything to it when suddenly four of the arm grabbed his Evangelion, first heavily shaking him, then giving him several headbutts before slamming it into a hillside with so much force, that it felt for Toji for a second, as if his back had been broken.

"Urrgh!" Toji felt unable to move, the pain for the moment was overwhelming. While he'd saved Hikari from instant death, they now were both at his mercy and as much as he hated being rescued, he hoped that Shinji and Asuka would manage to save them before it'd be too late.

Keel shook his head. "You brats really believed that you could overpower me? Pathetic." And just to make sure they'd stay down, he fired two missiles into each of them, heavity damaging their chest armor, paralyzing them with pain.

**-Bloommmmmm-**

Before he could do any more damage, the ground suddenly exploded, causing him to stumble and fall when he lost his footing. Looking up and through the dust cloud, he saw Unit-02 standing some distance away, holding a big mortar gun. Unit-01 stood at its side, holding a prog-sword ready.

"Don't even dare to touch them..." Asuka growld angry, before firing off the remaining shells, causing the Black Ace to vanish in a dust cloud. She then threw it away, readied her knife.

Both of them nervously waited what would happen, watching the thick cloud. They knew that this by far wouldn't have been enough to damage this behemoth. Shinji was more concerned about Rei, who he hoped was a safe distance away, since she was completely exhausted and no longer in any condition to fight. Asuka on the other hand was hectically scanning the cloud, trying to exile all thought to solely concentrate on getting the job done. It went too fast, when their enemy jumped out of the cloud with incredible speed for its size, jump-kicking Unit-01, which slammed into a hill. And while Shinji tried to get back up, Keel faced Asuka.

"Jetzt sind es nur wir beide. Ironisch, dass ich es bin, der Kyokos letzte Hinterlassenschaft zerstört," _(Now it's only us two. Ironic that it is me, who destroys Kyoko's last legacy,) _he teased her, hoping that she would take the bait.

"Was...?" (What...?) Asuka hadn't expected this. "Was zur Hölle soll das heißen?" (What the hell does this mean?)

Keel smirked. He had her attention and his cruel side decided to get some statisfaction, before he would kill them all. "Der Unfall bei dem ihr Geist absorbiert wurde, das war keiner... Wir wußten dass Einheit-02 noch immer einen menschlichen Geist brauchte..." _(The accident where her mind was absorbed, it wasn't one... We knew that Unit-02 still needed a human mind...)_

Asuka all of a sudden felt very sick when she realised what Keel was playing at. By now she'd accepted that her mother had been taken from her by accident. She had learned to deal with it and move on. But now all this was casted into doubt. "Soll...das heißen...dass...?" _(Does...that mean...that...?)_

"Ja, ich war es der den Knopf gedrückt und aus einem Problem etwas Nützliches gemacht hat." _(Yes, it was me who pushed the button and turned a problem into something useful.) _He knew that this would do it.

"Asuka, stop! Don't listen to him! He wants to make you angry!" Misato warned her, but Asuka didn't react. "Asuka, damn it!"

"Major, Asuka's heartrate is rising rapidly! She is turning to her anger!" Lt. Ibuki warned her, when seeing Asuka's bio-signs suddenly showing a high amount of stress. She knew that this was very bad. "Her synch-rate is climbing as well!"

Misato tried again to reach her. "Asuka, snap out of it!" But this last attempt also fell on deaf ears.

Something was breaking in Asuka. This cold-hearted monster facing her... he was responsible for taking away the two people in her life who'd mattered to her. He'd ripped the soul out of her mother to get Unit-02 to work. He had coldly set Kaworu to his death, knowing very well what Lilith would do to him. Her common sense shut off when this new revelation hit her like a ton bricks and an ice-cold shower.

"RAAAAAHHHHRRR...uuuggghhh!" Screaming like mad, she charged him, only to first get four fists stopping her cold and then a mighty kick sending her skywards. When she again fell down, she landed in the middle of the big lake, Unit-02 vanishing beneath the surface.

Lt. Hyuga hectically checked his screens. "Not good. The lake is very deep at that point and the rise of the ground is very steep. The only way we can get her out is with heavy equipment."

"That means it's now solely in Shinji's hands..." Misato hoped that once again, their faith in Shinji would be right.

"Now it is only the two of us..." Keel mocked, while facing Unit-01, which just had managed to get back onto its feet. "Are you r..." He stopped when all of a sudden the damage indicator flared up. Looking down, he saw a lance sticking out of the Black Ace's chest. Ripping it out and trashing it, before throwing it away, he faced the culprit.

"Stupid girl..."

"Rei..." Shinji couldn't believe that Rei had forced herself into this suicidal attack. The way Unit-00 held itself already was sign enough that Rei was in no shape to even do the simplest of attacks, let alone evading Keel's attacks.

Rei for her part knew that this had been a stupid move, giving Shinji just a little more time. It was all she could do. But she'd go out fighting, even if it meant just one desperation attack. She braced herself for what would come and suddenly the pain exploded when the projectiles slammed tough her arms and legs, while explosions ripped apart the chest armor. Unit-00 was pushed into a hillside, where it laid, unmoving, while Rei was lost in the pain.

"Rei..." Shinji looked shocked at the bleeding Unit-00, its chest armor ripped open to expose the core. Shock then made place for anger. "Don't you dare..."

"You want to make me?" Keel mocked him.

"Do! Not! Touch! REI!" Shinji screamed, and his anger and love mixed to free a power like he'd never felt before. And Keel stopped smirking, when Unit-01 roared, trembling when from its back twelve huge, orange-glowing energy wings grew. The wings made it look like a true herald of death.

"His snych-ratio his risen to 100 percent. The S² has went into full energy output mode!" Maya quickly reported, astounded, even after what she witness some time earlier with Unit-00.

Ritsuko was also impressed. "We'd never thought he'd be able to do that."

"Ritsu? What the hell is this?" Misato looked more concerned than awed at the crackling energy wings. She was unable to shake the feeling that this could be bad news after all the crazy things she'd seen an Evangelion doing.

"Shinji has managed to access the EVA's full capacities without resorting to it going amok. He is in perfect control and has turned the energy output to the maximum. The wings are the manifestation of this perfect control and power," she told Misato in awe. "There is only the problem that it is very taxing on him."

Misato understood what Ritsuko meant with this. Shinji had to finsish the fight now, before the strain on him would become too much._ Shinji... please don't make me sorry for wishing you good luck in the fight.

* * *

_

_..._

"Idiot! Idiot! IDIOT!" Asuka cursed herself. Her Evangelion had sunken to the ground of the lake and there was no way she'd be able to get out of it. All she saw from her plug was water and a wall of rock that would be impossible to get up. Thanks to her stupidity, she'd fallen for the trick and her anger had resulted in this. It made her feel like a total beginner that she'd went down like this.

Should the others die, it would be her fault. Her fault all alone.

No, they would now surely die. It all became too much for her. All the stress of the day had brought her closer and closer to the edge, and now she was about to fall over it into the darky abyss. She no longer cared about being strong. She openly cried, her tears witness of her pain. This monster Keel had taken her mother and Kaworu from her, and now she was too weak and stupid, to even avenge them!

She was a failure.

She had failed everyone. The world, her friends, her boyfriend... her mother.

At first she didn't notice the bright light that started to illuminate her entry plug, while at the same time all the system screens went dead. "Bitte weine nicht..."_ (Please do not cry...)_

"Wer?" _(Who?)_ Looking up, Asuka looked in surprise at the glowing form of a woman that hovered over her. Her eyes widened when she realized who it was. She had given up on ever finding her, and now she was there, directly before her. "Mutter?" _(Mother?)_

Kyoko's gentle smile reassured Asuka that she was the real deal. "Ich habe dir so viel zu sagen, doch die Zeit ist knapp. Bitte nimm meine Hand, und erlaube mir, deinen Freunden zu helfen." _(I have so much to tell, but time is short. Please take my hand and allow me to help your friends.)_

Asuka didn't hesitate to accept the offered hand.

Her eyes widened when she came into contact with her mother's essence. "Nein! Ich habe dich gerade wieder gefunden! Ich will dich nicht noch einmal verlieren!" _(No! I just got you back! I don't want to lose you again!)_

Kyoko gave her daughter a sad smile. "Bitte vertrau mir. Es ist an der Zeit, dass wir getrennte Wege gehen. Ich werde dich erwarten, an jenem wunderschönen Ort. Meine Seele verlangt nach Frieden, aber du hast noch ein ganzes Leben vor dir. Bitte akzeptiere mein letztes Geschenk." _(Please trust me. It's time for us to part. I will wait for you at a beautiful place. My soul needs peace, but you still have your life ahead. Please accept my last gift.)_

Asuka hesitated, then felt her mother's love and calmness wash over her. Closing her eyes, she accepted Kyoko's gift.

* * *

_..._

While the battle before had been a rather one-sided affair, it still was, only that now the tables had been turned. Shinji being in perfect control made this very different from a normal amok running Evangelion. He was negating Keel's field right away, fueled by his burning rage. His strength was so great, the strikes were devastating.

"Do you even know how many lives you have destroyed?" He smashed the shoulder pylons, causing the remaining missiles to explode.

Shinji felt rage, but he was also driven by the complete opposite of that emotion: love. His rage was the fuel for his strength while his love for Rei tempered it to move it from blind rage to one with intent. He'd held his rage under control the entire time, but seeing him threatening Rei had opened the floodgates. As much as he did this to save everyone, he did it even more just for her.

"Are you totally indifferent to what you have done?" Unit-01's teeth had little trouble to seperate one of the six arms.

He had faught for the future of mankind, knowing that he had to do it for everyone. He had not done it to inflate his ego. The mere idea that someone was willing to destroy the whole world just to get what they want made him sick. His father seemed to have seen the error of his ways, but Keel was just pure evil. This man had been mad enough to try and become a god.

"You are egoistical to the core." Toji and Hikari came to help, holding each one arm that Shinji then cleanly broke off with precise strikes.

Normally he was a peaceful person; he disliked violence. Fighting against the Angels had been easy because they'd been looking like grtesque monsters. But up to this moment, he had been unable to even think about killing another person. Until now. Keel had done so many horrible things, was such a complete monster that he was even worse than the Angels, that Shinji would make an exception.

"You don't deserve to live..." Mana had managed to arrive, and one blast later, Keel was left with only two working arms.

**"ENOUGH!"** A shockwave forced them all away.

Keel watches his enemies re-group, seeing that the wings on Unit-01 back were slowly starting to fade. "You heavily damaged my vessel. My energy is fainting away... I don't have much time left... You are dead!" And that said, he flipped a switch.

"Oh gods, no!" Ritsuko gasped, when she saw the Black Ace ejecting several rods from below its shoulders and its back. "He is about activate the best mode."

"Beast Mode? What in all names is that, Ritsu?" Misato had the feeling that there was again somethingthat Ritsu had neglected to tell her.

To her surprise, it was Ryoji, who answered the question. "It is something that no one had been mad enough to use. An Evangelion running amok is bad enough. But if even the last restraint fails, then it will shed even that and become an uncontrollable monster. With the rods enjected, he'll free the monster." Noticing Misato staring at him, he added "I saw that when I stole the documents some years ago."

Misato then finally realized what this meant. "Retreat! Get away, before..."

It was too late. Suddenly, the Black Ace howled, its armor bursting off in numerous places to reveal fast growing muscles, its missing arms re-grew at an incredible rate. After mere seconds, it had turned into a trembling mass of muscles, showing off the razor-sharp teeth in its drooling mouth and its eyes glowed hot-white. It had become a true monster.

**"AAARRAAHHHHHRRRRRR!"** Roaring out its bloodlust, the monster didn't hesitate to attack at once and in a frightening show of strength, shattered the Trident's huge legs with one swipe, before turning its attention to Unit-03 and 04. Toji and Hikari had little chance and were also bested within seconds.

However, it seemed that the monster had only one true goal, and that was Unit-01, which it was now about to attack as well. Shinji tried to prepare for it, but felt his strangth fading rapidly. His earlier actions had taken its toll and he now was practically helpless against this monster. Then he saw it, the beast was about to jump...

**-BRRRRUUUUMMMMMMMMMM-**

Even the monster was shaken out of its bloodlust, when suddenly a huge geysir exploded from out of the lake. In a stark contrast to the blue water, the red Unit-02 catapulted itself out of the water, ejecting its entry plug in the same moment. And while the plug's parachute opened when it was far away, the Evengelion laded at the shore, its eyes glowing angrily.

It then went too fast for anyone to react.

Roaring like mad, Unit-02 rocketed forward, acellerated by its own AT-field, slammed into the monster and the sheer power was more than enough to rocket both of them further away for miles, leaving a trail of destruction in the chosen path.

Keel couldn't react in any way, having lost control, when a distorted face appeared on one screen. A face that he'd once known. "FAHR ZUR HÖLLE, KEEL!" (GO TO HELL, KEEL!) That were her last words, before she ignited her S² engine on full overload...

A bright flash blinded everyone, before a huge fireball destroyed everything for miles, instantly vaporising both Evangelions. The hot-yellow fireball expanded outwards, before sucking up all the loose debris, slowly forming a massive mushroom cloud that dominated the horizon.

Having climbed out of her landed plug, Asuka watched the slowly rising mushroom cloud from a hill. Ironically her plug had landed directly besides the temple in which Misato and Ryoji had held their wedding ceremony. She didn't even want to know how the old priest had managed to simply ignore the evacuation order.

Her mother had given her a last gift, a gift she for now didn't want to reveal to anyone. And then she'd sacrificed herself for them. Despite her sorrow over again losing her, she also felt pride that her mother had found the courage to make this final decision.

* * *

_...some time later..._

The battle had been faught and they had prevailed against the forces of darkness, saving the world from the cabal of SEELE. There was still another battle being faught, but this one they had no way to interfere in, hadn't even the power to do so. Therefore they did the only thing they could do: waiting and starting to mend the wounds they'd gotten during this hellish day.

By now night had fallen, the full Moon shining bright in the sky, while the once bright city of Tokyo-3 had been darkened forever, being reduced to a burnt-out wreck. The hill where the entry plug of Unit-02 had landed had become a busy place. Floodlights illuminated the hill and its sides and the area surrounding the old temple was swarming with military and people from NERV, securing the area and checking on the four remaining Evangelions, which were parked on the hillside, with easy plug access.

The pilots sat at the top of the slope, overlooking the destroyed city. The adults right now were busy with managing the aftermath but had promised to take care of them later, leaving them to wait. There wasn't much to see, apart from the illumination in the distance, where another team was preparing to move the damaged Trident.

They had come out of this mess diffently affected. Rei and Shinji were holding on each other, hoping that their exchanged warmth would drive away the ugly pictures. Hikari was leaning against Toji, who was calmly telling her how brave she'd been today. Asuka was in a surprisingly good condition, considering the loss she'd suffered. Mana ws the opposite. The horrors of the day had caught up with her, and Asuka of all people was busy with helping her to come to terms with it.

But then a red flash for a second illuminated the sky.

They looked up, only to see that the battle between Lilith and Adam must have come to an end, with a huge explosion turning a quarter of the Moon into a red-hot, molten hell. They looked in awe at this display of pure destruction, wondering who had won.

* * *

_...several minutes earlier..._

Adam felt as if being on his last reserves. Lilith had literally chased him over half the Moon and now his energy reserves were dangerously low. He needed time to recover -time that Lilith was unwilling to give to him. He should have expected her to fight dirty, but his grief had overridden his common sense.

Barely able to stay, Adam landed besides the remains of the first manned moon expedition of mankind. However, he had little eye for these relics, while trying to catch a breath (not literally, after all there was no air). Unfortunately, this was cut short when he felt something. Looking up he had no time to react when Lilith hit him with a kick into his core, making him fall on the ground.

_**"Aaarrrrhhh..."**_ he groaned in pain.

Liltih took no chances and gave him several brutal kicks into the side to make sure that he'd stand down. Then finally she looked down to him gloatingly. _**"It felt very refreshing to use physical violence... my own fists and feet..."**_

_**"So...what are you waiting for?..."**_ He'd expected her to simply atomise him now with a deadly beam attack. That she hadn't was unexpected.

She sat down on his chest to pin him to the ground. It was a display that a onlooker would have considered somewhat obscene. _**"My, Adam. So eager to see your end?... Don't worry, it will come...eventually. Me fighting you opened my eyes to something."**_ She scratched his core while saying this, making him groan in pain.

_**"I enjoyed hurting you with my fists... So I want to savor this moment and get the maximum out of it... You think I would simply blow you to kingdom come with an energy attack?"**_

_**"Of course, why would you...waste time?"**_ he snorted, desperately trying to find a way to use Lilith's overconfidence to his advanatage.

_**"Oh, I won't waste anymore time. Only instead of it being instantly over, it will take a long time, while I use my very own hands to choke the life out of you."**_ Then, without warning, her hands took hold of his neck and she started to squeeze hard.

_**"Uurrrgh..."**_

While this wasn't like choking a human, after all he didn't have lungs and no need for oxygen, her squeezing started to cut off the blood flow to his brain, which in the end would have the same consequences. Consequences he had to avoid at all cost. Looking around, he saw to his surprise his lance being stuck in the ground a mere 100 meters away, something he'd overlooked.

However, in his situation, 100 meters was a world away.

Lilith noticed him looking to the lance. _**"Your lance. Surely you want to have that?... A pity. So close, and yet so far. But don't worry, once you're dead, I'll re-unite you with it by pinning your cadaver to the ground with it."**_

Adam already felt the first effects of the cut-off bloodflow affecting him. He desperately needed a plan to make Lilith let go so that he could reach his lance, which by now was his only chance. But there was nothing useful in reach of his hands. Nothing apart from the fallen, metallic flagpole of the flag left behind by the moon expedition. Otherwise there was nothing that would be helpful in any way.

Right then however, he had an idea and picked up the flagpole.

Lilith only mocked him. _**"Should I be afraid of this toothpick? You should be more concerned about finding some fitting last words like 'One shall Stand, One shall Fall', would be fitting since I'll stand and you'll be fallen."**_

Adam however charged the pole with his own AT-field, since he had discovered that Lilith had become careless. It was a desperate plan, and he gathered his strength for it. This gamble was his last chance, so he couldn't screw it up. _**"Lilith..."**_

_**"Yes?"**_

_**"Shut up!"**_ And with that, the charged pole suddenly shot out of his hand like a projectile and landed directly in the lowest of Lilith's seven eyes, making it literally explode in a cloud blood and flesh.

_**"AAAHHHHHHHHRRRRRRGGGGGHHHH!" **_Lilith screamed in pain and her hands let got of Adam to cover her destroyed eye in reflex. And that was exactly what Adam had waited for.

Without hesitating a second, he gathered all his strength and threw Lilith off, before making a run for his lance. Lilith needed some moments to actually realize what was going on, and she then already saw Adam pulling the lance out of the ground, holding it ready for the strike. It was a sight that promised a world of hurt.

_**"As you said! One shall stand..."**_ He jumped up, the lance pointed into her direction _**"..and one shall fall!"**_

For Lilith, it was as if watching in slow-motion her doom approaching her. All the smugness was gone at this moment. However, surprisingly, even for her, she didn't feel any panic. She didn't feel much at all, apart from a deep sense of disappointment. _**"Bummer."**_

The Lance of Longinus ripped through Lilith, causing fatal injury to her. Unlike Rei, who'd used the lance with precision to only weaken Lilith, Adam had used a lethal move. The momentum slammed her to the ground, pinning her there, unmoving, a pool of red blood spreading beneath her white body, which had lost all of its glow.

Adam tried to get his raging heart under control, leaning on the lance. This move had cost him almost all of his strength. But now, with the battle over, he finally was able to catch his breath. He'd have never dreamed that it would come to this, but now the deed was done, and Lilith never again would be a danger. Finally he looked down to Lilith and was surprised that she wasn't dead yet, still being in the slow process of dying.

Lilith looked up to him with her six remaining eyes. _**"I hope...now you are pleased."**_

Adam shook his head. _**"I never wanted to do this, but your actions brought this upon yourself. Even at death's door you still don't want to see that."**_

Lilith chuckled. _**"We could continue this argument until I die, but I don't think so..." **_Suddenly her chest started to glow an angry red. _**"...because I'm a sore loser!"**_

Adam's eyes widened when he realized what Lilith was about to do! Without hesitating he pulled out his lance and quickly took off, trying to get as much distance as possible between them. He should have expected Lilith pulling off such a sore loser move even after her final defeat.

He heard Lilith's laughter in her death throes, a laughter of pure madness. In her last moments she'd snapped completely, every last remnant of a personality gone from the mad laugh. He tried to ignore it and didn't look back while using every ounce of strength to get the hell out of there.

However, his strength being mostly used up, he didn't get far enough away, when a red light illuminated space behind him.

In an incredibly powerful explosion that almost rivaled Second Impact, Lilith found her final end. A shockwave ripped over the surface of the Moon, while the unbelivable heat of the destruction was easily enough to instantly turn a quarter of the surface that faced Earth into boiling lava, while all over the surface the ground ripped open and from below lava was coughed up by Earth's natural satellite.

Another shockwave went into space, and it hit Adam, hard.

Clutching on his lance, he saw that he still was on course, but the injury made it impossible for him to control his flight any longer. He could only pray that he'd recover enough to escape Lilith's last act of destruction with his life.

o

They'd all watched the explosion, seen over a quarter of the side of the Moon facing Earth turned into a hot-red, molten hell, with red-glowing cracks in the surface spreading over another quarter of the surface. Silent witness of the unbelievable powers that had been set free in a battle whose victor was still unknown to them.

However, this wouldn't be the case for long, as already they saw a big fireball falling from the sky, towards the ground.

Adam was in pain, while fending off the heat that threatened to burn him to a crisp during re-entry into Earth's atmosphere. He'd recovered some strength, not enough to get control of his flight, but enough to hopefully make the landing non-fatal for him. He knew it would hurt. It would a lot. But he would not give her this last statisfaction.

_**No... I won't let you get the final laugh,**_ Adam thought, while holding his lance in a death-grip. It was giving him additional power, and he knew without it, he already would've been dead.

Seeing the ground approaching, he turned around to face the sky and poured everying into slowing down his momentum. It worked... he did become significantly slower...but he still hit the ground hard and a huge hushroom cloud consisting of dust, earth and debris rose up, with a deep bang -as if a huge steam locomotive had blown up- filling the air.

When the dust started to settle, he was revealed lying in a crater, unmoving, making everyone wonder if he was alive... or not.

_**to be concluded...**_

_**Next up, the final chapter and conclusion: "Recovery of what once was lost"

* * *

**_

_Now I just talk about various things that happened during the story creation process, and how some ideas came to me._

_I put little homages of other shows into the story:_

_-Ranma, Akane and Ukyo are met when Shinji first visits the park and after Shinji and Rei visited Tokyo-2 after paying their respects at Yui's grave. They even say how they've fared. I have a story how they experienced Second Impact._

_-The Kabuki actor Mu-Tsu Mistsugoro found when Misato and Ryoji try to flee the theatre is of course Mousse from Ranma 1/2, as the glasses and chains give away._

_-The Hikawa Shrine, its head priest Hino and his granddaughter Rei are of course all borrowed from Sailor Moon._

_-Major Hanson is based on Hanson from Nadia (also from Ginax), and he even shows off his Gratan vehicle._

_-Iruel's mannerisms and look are heavily based on Shodan form System Shock._

_-Shinji and Rei watch Star Wars in chapter 10._

_I tried very hard to not depend on OC's. I found OC's to be the bane of fanfiction and learned to be very alarmed when one shows up, as they usually tend to become Mary Sue's. I decided to instead use existing characters from verious Evangelion sources, thus why I used Mana and Mayumi. Practically the only important OC in my story is Shinji's uncle Kaldor._

_It bugged me that it was never made clear what the deal with the Rei clones is. While it was hinted that Rei lived on through them, it was too vague. Also the memory mapper system was too complex to just be used for the dummy plug project. Therefore I had the idea that should Rei die, her sould would go to the next body but her memories don't, so she'd need a memory download to not end up with the mind of a baby._

_Surprisingly, I'd always planned to make Hikari the fifth child. My reasoning, besides how many opportunities it opened, was threefold:_

_-I did not want an OC._

_-I couldn't imagine Kensuke becoming a pilot._

_-I sure as hell didn't want Kaworu to turn up early._


	43. Recovery of what once was lost

I will say these things in advance: I have absolutely no rights to NGE, but you should have already known that.

Yahoo! Finally, after such a long time, the story is COMPLETE! Yes, I did it, I did manage to complete the story for you, my readers! Ok, I had to hasten in this last chapter, as I'm again on the verge of a writer's block, but I did it, and I hope it isn't too noticable.

Nonetheless, it is COMPLETE!

**NOTE:** I have completed a re-compilition of the story in pdf-format with better formatting and lots of pictures (a number I had to tweak). Now I will send everyone who is interested the whole story (it is divided into three seperate books). Note that the pdf-version also has bonus material in form of extra pictures and the background texts you've already seen in the previous chapters!

If you want this version of the story, just give me a note, and I tell you how to get it from me.

After you've read the chapter, **please Review!** Please tell me your opinion. I promise to answer every review I get. Now that the story is complete, do so even more!

* * *

**Chapter 42: Recovery of what once was lost**

Adam felt like Lilith had kicked him into the head at least ten dozend times. However, being in pain at least told him that he was still under the living. His body was as heavy as lead and he felt his strength only slowly returning. Opening his eyes wasn't that high on his list of things to do, but he knew that he had to.

The first sight that greeted him with the early dawn sky, the rising sun painting it in shades of yellow and orange.

That was not very informative, so surpressing a groan, he slowly moved his head to see, that he was lying in a crater -no doubt the result of his hard impact- with numerous humans having set up their equipment at the upper edge, monitoring him. That was a good sign. Had they mistrusted him, they'd have used the opportunity to get rid of him while he'd been helpless. However, he was unable to understand any of them, their voices simply being to small for him to understand.

Again feeling the huge mass of his body weighting him down, Adam decided to do something about that. Drawing some strength from his lance, he did a trick that would make it easier for him to heal from his injuries and hopefully make him look less intimidating.

_**The things I do...**_

Everyone looked in awe when all of a sudden the huge, pale-glowing giant suddenly started to shrink (and everyone wondered how the lance was shrinking as well), until an human-sized being stood down in the center of the crater, already looking much healthier with a stronger glow surrounding him. Feeling better, Adam levitated up to the edge of the crater, touching down in the midst of the people there. Hopefully they wouldn't notice him leaning on his lance.

For some moments, everyone just stared at him.

He should have known that he was still intimidating them, which was no wonder after all the destruction his children had caused. So he had to take the lead. _**"I am not here to do you any harm. Please show me the way to your leaders."**_

o

It had been a pain. He really wasn't made for diplomacy, so it had taken him almost half an hour. But finally they'd escorted him -the soldiers holding their weapons ready, as if this would do them any good- to a hill where the makeshift command centre had been errected.

On the way he'd seen how much destruction the battle had caused. What had been a city nestled in a peaceful landscape, had been turned into a debris- and body-filled battlefield. He could literally smell death in the air. When they'd finally reached the hill, he'd seen the lilim's battle machines leaning against it.

And now here he was. After their initial surprise, these people were quite direct, and he liked it this way.

_**"...she is no more. Every last bit of her was vaporised, when she overloaded herself,"**_ he concluded, then waited for their questions.

While he waited, the people gathered in the makeshift command centre (very makeshift, considering it was a big tent with no side walls), were in different states of emotion.

The military of course mistrusted Adam. After all, he was an Angel, and those were mostly known for destruction. The NERV command, formed by Gendo, Fuyutsuki, Ritsuko and Misato, was more open-minded, especially since they knew that should Adam have wanted to destroy them, they wouldn't be there any longer. The pilots stood a little apart. Now that there was nothing more to fight, they felt like the fifth wheel. They also had to think about poor Mana, who right now was sleeping with the help of sedatives, since she'd been unable to find any sleep after all what she'd seen and done the day before.

"So, now what?" Misato finally broke the silence. "You should know plain clear that while you helped us by destroying Lilith, we still can't fully trust you. Not after everything that did happen." She had to try hard to stay calm. His presence made her nervous.

_**"This is a sad matter of fact. The destruction caused by Lilith and my children will make it impossible for the forseeable future to show me any trust. Nonetheless, I want to help undo some of the damage done. While what's dead and past can't be returned, wounds can be healed and injustice undone."**_

"'Injustice undone?'" Ritsuko asked in a way that made no secret that she was somewhat disappointed that Adam had to resort to corny comicbook-lines.

_**"Please, I was created to seed and guide life, not to be a conversationalist."**_ Adam then looked outside, towards the Evangelions. _**"I know everything from my son. Two lives were stolen..."**_ Ignoring everyone else, he walked out of the tent. _**"...and to heal this world, I shall begin here."**_

They had no way to do anything, especially when Adam grew back to his original size, standing in front of Unit-00 and 01. Looking at the huge Evangelions, he rose his hands and the chest armor simply peeled off, revealing the cores. Sure there were numerous sparks, smoke and it sounded like a car in a compactor, but the cores themselves were unscratched. It was at that moment where it became painfully clear that Adam was way more powerful than any Angel they'd ever encountered, meaning that they wouldn't have survived a battle against Lilith, who propably had been equally strong.

Adam looked at the dull orange spheres, as if studying a mechanism to find out how to operate it. _**"A very crude replication of the technology of the Ancient Ones. Only the organic part... No wonder that this is so horribly unstable."**_

"Could it be? All the time he knew how to get them out of there?" Ritsuko wondered aloud, while watching Adam. Despite what she'd promised her mother, she'd had only little hope of ever succeeding with getting her out of the EVA.

Gendo didn't say anything. All these years, he'd conspired to bring about the end of the world, just to be re-united with Yui. And now it could turn out that freeing the world by doing what was right and just, could return her to him. His hopes to again hold her in his arms had been very slim, so he was unable to really cope with this now coming out of the blue. He could do nothing but watch and wait.

Finally, Adam was done and his glow extended to the two Evangelions. The cores lit up and both units protested, roaring like injured animals, but the glow held them firmly in place. _**"No, you won't keep them!"**_ Adam hissed. _**"You have had them for years. Give them free!"**_

Both Evangelions were unwilling, Unit-01 snapping at Adam's arm. It seemed that both of them were running amok, but Adam was capable of holding them, even though it did cost him lots of strength, considering how he was shaking. _**"All right. I wanted to do this the easy way..."**_

Energy hit the cores directly, causing them to flare up bright-yellow.

The roaring of the EVAs faded, making room for screetching. It seemed that they were in lots of pain, fearing for their very lives. On the cores, two shadows took the form of human beings, then the outer shell of the cores started to crack like glass, before it broke apart. In a wave of LCL, two human bodies landed in the palms of his hands, which he'd held under the cores, while the two EVAs slumped down, like puppets whose strings were cut..

Adam look at the two naked woman in his hands. They looked so vulnerable, covered in a sticky coating of LCL, shivering in the aftershock of their bodies re-forming after so many years and he could feel their minds trying to grasp what had happened, although Yui Ikari was a little less panicked since she must have seen and heard what was about to happen, before her soul had been fused back into her body.

_**"Please tend to them. This is a huge shock to their system,"**_ he told the people watching him, while lowering his hands to the ground.

That finally brought everyone out of it. Medics rushed forward to do their job, quickly wrapping the two woman into blankets and putting them on strechers before checking their vital signs. Thankfully, despite being just returned to life, they were stable with no complications, just very weak. This was a wonder when remembering, that Naoko Akagi had been mortally injuried mere minutes before being absorbed. And after getting their eyes cleaned of LCL, both woman became aware of their surroundings.

Surprisingly, it was the elder Akagi who became fully aware first. Opening her eyes, the first thing she saw was her daughter. She was trying to remember. The last clear memory had been being put into the entry plug of Unit-00 while she was bleeding to death. A sharp pain, and everything after that was a haze of pain and anger. Her scientific mind came to the conclusion, that she must have somehow gotten out of the Evangelion and that her injuries during absorbtion had damaged her ability to remember that time.

"Since when have you stopped putting that stuff into your hair?" The elder Akagi knew that it was a completely stupid thing to ask, but it had been the first to come to mind when seeing her hair back to natural brown.

_She's alright. After all she'd never made peace with me dyeing my hair, saying that we shouldn't try to emulate gaijin,_ Ritsuko thought, feeling relief that her mother seemed to be herself. She then noticed her mother looking around and her face turning into a mask of hatred when spotting Gendo watching over Yui.

"Mother, a lot has changed during the years when you were gone. I can't stand him either for what he'd done, but I don't want the hatred to poison me," she told her to attract her attention away from the man.

Naoko felt that it was not so easy. A big part of her wanted to beat Gendo to death for how he had wronged her on so many levels. Ritsuko's words however, reminded her of her late husband, who besides his scientific mind had also possessed wisdom that she was lacking. It seemed that her daughter had, after years of following her path, learned these lessons.

Meanwhile Yui was finally awakening.

She'd seen it coming, seen Adam approach and do his thing. Still, the process of putting soul and body back together had hurt like hell. It had felt like being ripped out of a warm home and being thrown into an ice-cold ocean. The shock had made her black out, something she was thankful for. Currently, she felt weak, but being able to feel at all was worth it. Opening her eyes, she as greeted with three faces; two very welcome and one only under conditions.

Ignoring her husband for the moment, she turned her attention to Shinji and Rei., giving them a smile. "It is alright, you two can hug me. I won't break."

They took her by the word and both gave her an extended hug. Yui knew that despite having faught in a war and having discovered the secret of love, Shinji and Rei in some aspects still were children. One of these things was, that they needed to be reassured that there is someone who cares for them. After the hardships of the last day, they also saw her as a source of emotional warmth, which would help them to cope with everything that had happened.

Finally they parted. "I... I still fear you'd could vanish at any moment," Shinji tried to get his current feeling into words. To have back all of her, to be able to feel her, hug her, that was something that deep inside he'd missed all these years.

"Don't worry. I'm now how for the long term..." Simple words that helped to put his fears to rest. "I'll make up my long abscense, I promise." She then turned her attention to Gendo. "Gendo Ikari, front and center, now!"

Gendo knew that voice. She'd meant that as an order to be followed at once. Not wanting to incur her anger, he did as told, then waited for what he had known for some time, would be coming. Silence lasted for long seconds, before Yui broke it. If Gendo had expected to be slapped, he was in to a disappointment, as Yui stayed peaceful.

"Alright, Gendo Ikari. I bet you expected me to be quite nasty to you, but I'll disappoint you. You are in luck that I had months to calm down and to make fire under your butt to get you make up for everything you did. That does not mean you are of the hook, of course. Surely you wonder what will come next?"

"Yes, dear." He knew, disagreeing was pointless and only would hurt him.

"Good. After all this time, I will give you a second chance. For now you are on probation. Once you have proved to me that the change for the better is permanent, I'll return all these previliges to you that you've lost for now. Deal?" However, Yui's tone of voice made it clear that the deal was already in effect, and his approval not needed.

"Yes, dear." What choice had he otherwise?

"See, it wasn't that difficult..." Yui held a triumphant smile, knowing that Gendo would not break his word out of fear how she could react. Noting some light to her left, she looked outside the tent, and lost her smile. "Uhm, what is he doing?"

Everyone looked outside, to see something impressive.

Adam had slammed the aft end of the lance into the ground, so that it stood straight up. He was glowing much stronger than usual, channelling all the energies into the now also glowing lance. As if feeling their eyes on him, he adressed them. _**"I healed you. And like I healed your wounds, I will now heal the wounds of the world."**_

White light errupted from the lance, making it look as if everything was bathed in a sort-of white mist. Everyone felt a little lightheaded before they began to feel...great. This light felt wonderful, as if all their trouble had been taken off them.

From Japan, the white light started to spread, transversion oceans and mountains without any problem. All over the world, people stopped whatever they did, and the white light embraced them as well. Finally, the whole globe was covered in a cloud of light. The Earth seemed to let out a sigh of relief when the red glow at the South Pole was sucked up by the light and the axis of the planet corrected itself.

After some long minutes, Adam pulled the light back into himself, leaving behind a world which he'd given a gift to compensate for what Lilith had done to it.

Seeing that his job was done, Adam took his lance and then shrinked himself back to human size. Approaching the astonished group, he saw their puzzlement what exactly had happened. _**"I think you wonder what I have done?"**_ No answer, it seemed they were still stunned by this display. _**"Well, I'll tell you nonetheless."**_

_**"Essentially, I tried to repair the damage done by Lilith. As I said, I can not bring back things that are dead and past, therefore I decided to cleanse the world of her influence and compensate you for all that happened. Some of you will surely by now feel a difference."**_

That finally shook them out of it. And yes, they did feel different. More refeshed, healthier. Both, Yui and Naoko, no longer felt weak. Ritsuko noticed that that heavy feeling in her lungs from years of chain-smoking was gone. Misato felt through her shirt, that the scar on her chest was gone, only smooth skin in its place. As they soon discovered, healing obviously only meant damage done, not natural weaknesses, as the sight of people wearing glasses was still impaired.

Of all of them them, Rei felt the strangest. As if part of her had been completely changed... in a good way. Facing Adam, she directly demanded: "What have you done with me?"

_**"There is no reason for concern, I did not do you any harm. I just gave you my special attention and removed the curse of Lilith from you. I replaced all what you inherited from her with healthy human genetics. I think you'll appreciate that you now are guranteed to have very healthy offspring."**_

Ok, that was information Rei didn't want to discuss in the open, so she directed her question someplace else. "How can my hair still be blue, if I have completely human genetics now?"

_**"I felt that your looks have become a part of you, so I created pigment genes for blue hair... You want it some other color?"**_

"No!" Ok, now that he did ask her, she had become attached to her hair color. Natural blue hair, that was something to really make her unique.

**-Crraaaaclllaaaannng-**

That sounded like something big, metallic was collapsing. They soon saw, what, when looking outside. Unit-01 had collapsed into a heap of metal peces, the head sitting atop of it, and the other three remaining Evangelions followed suit. There was no sign of the organic material that the EVAs were made of, it was just metal and electronics. All of them looked questioning to Adam, knowing that this had to be his doing.

Adam shugged. _**"I used the opportunity to also collect all the organic matter created for your battle machines. The way you jury-rigged the organic components is downright dangerous and irresponsible. It's best to remove that from your hands until the Ancient Ones can teach you, how to use it properly."**_

Ritsuko and Naoko felt insulted their their was was described in such terms. However, none of them would now dare to actually insult Adam, after all they had no way to possibly oppose him, meaning that they could only hope that the being would now stay true to his word, although his acts up to now spoke to his favor.

_**"Now there is only one more loose end..." **_Adam looked to Asuka, who felt very uneasy with the attention she got from the godlike being.

* * *

_...deep inside the geofront..._

The white light gave the whole room a cold atmosphere, which was only underlined by the cold temeratures that were used to keep the organic matter of dead bodies fresh. The morgue of the medical section wasn't used often, right now only holding one body: the one of Kaworu Nagisa, also know as Tabris, Angel of free choice.

Asuka felt uneasy, looking at the cold body of her boyfriend. "I thought you can't bring back the dead?"

_**"I can't,"**_ Adam acknowledged, while studying the body. _**"While I can create a living body, the mental aspect of a person I can't bring back from wherever it goes. However, for my son the situation is different."**_

"How so?" She knew Kaworu had told that the all-father could grant him a second chance, but she didn't know what to make of this. The sheer idea that he could ressurrect him was threatening to overload her mind. After all, dead was dead, right? And people usually only came back in comic books.

_**"When my children died, their essences returned to me, so that I can decide what will happen to them. For my son Tabris, it is even more. Since he'd carried my very being with him, his emotions and memories are held by me, therefore I'm able to return him to life,"**_ Adam explained, while looking at how much damage Lilith had done to his son's host body. _**"Please step back, I'm about to begin."**_

He didn't have to tell her that, his growing glow made her step back automatically. Fascinated she watched him defrosting the body within seconds and then starting with the repairs. Reconstructing a dead body into a living one obviously was a complicated process, as he didn't say a word while doing so. Asuka could see the progress until Kaworu's body again looked as good as it did when he'd been alive. However, something was still missing.

She look in sick fascination when Adam's hands phased into his own chest, pulling out a yellow-glowing sphere of energy, holding it in his hands. Asuka looked in fascination at it, being remined of how Rei had travelled to her current body. "Is this...?"

_**"It is... now for the final touch..."**_ Holding the sphere over Kaworu's head, he let go and it sank into the head, vanishing.

For a moment, nothing happened. Then all of a sudden, Kaworu spamsed and coughed heavily! Asuka tought that something had went wrong and wanted to step forward, but Adam's outstreched arm stopped her. The action was words enough, he's expected this reaction. And true, Kawour seemed to calm down, his breathing returning to normal. Both of them looked in expectation when he opened his eyes.

Kaworu wondered, where he was.

He felt rather strange, as if something was truely different. He tried to remember. Lilith tricking him. Him dying and telling the whole story. Saying goodbye to Asuka. Sitting up, he looked around, and stopped dead, when seeing someone he'd hoped to see again. Disregarding the cold, he jumped up and hugged the glowing being.

"Father! You...you did come for me!" He couldn't believe how much of a reaction his father's presence caused in him, even stronger than normal.

_**"You are my son... You did so much for me... How could I not help you?" **_Adam felt truely happy. His son's happiness at seeing him was one of the bright spots since his re-awakening. _**"However, there is someone else who is also happy to see you."**_

Letting go of his father, he turned to see Asuka and another smile crept up his face. That was the other person he wanted to see. However, she, to his puzzlement, made no move towards him, instead she was blushing, the skin of her face trying to match the color of her hair. He wondered what she could find embarrassing, until he felt the cold, looked down and at last noticed that he was in his birthday suit.

"Oh." Now it was clear why she was embarrassed.

Grabbing the sheet, he quickly wrapped it around himself, before hugging Asuka as well. That brought her out of it, and she wasted no time with words; instead pressed her lips against his. Adam watched the scene with bemusement. Unlike what he and Lilith had had, this was real attraction, which could easily blossom into something more over time.

When their lips finally parted, Asuka and Kaworu felt very happy. And Asuka told him the one thing she wanted to make clear: "Don't you dare to leave me again."

* * *

_...an hour later..._

It was really strange to gather on clear field to officially see Adam, the first Angel, leave Earth.

Adam had told them that now that his mission was complete, he would return to the Ancient Ones to report the successful creation of intelligent life and a developed civilisation on the planet. That however also meant to report his own failure with Lilith and the consequences of this failure. He could only hope that the end results would cover for the havoc that Lilith had caused, so that the Ancient Ones would extend mercy to him and hopefully decide to not punish him for his failures.

"Father, when will I see you again?" Kaworu asked Adam.

The last hour had brought big changes to him. He'd learned that all of his body was no made-up by human genetics, since his father felt that after all, he and his girlfriend one day would want offspring, if everything goes the right way. Also, Kaworu had finally discovered that his father had had to set priorities. In order to not accidently blow up his head with too much information, he'd removed most of the theoretical knowledge, giving priority to personality and personal memories. A small sacrifice for being alive again.

_**"If the Ancient Ones show mercy and allow me to return with them, in five years."**_ He hated to leave his son behind, but there was little choice. At least he knew that he was in good hands. _**"I will miss you, my son."**_

They hugged one last time, before Kaworu stepped back, allowing Adam, clutching the lance in his hands, to return to his original size. His body then wrapped intself around the lance in a way that normally was anatomically impossible, making it look as if the two of them became one. He hovered there for a few seconds, before taking off like a rocket into the sky, until he'd vanished into the blueness.

"I guess this closes the book on this chapter," Yui finally said, after Adam was long gone. "Let's hope that the world can be prepared for the visit of peaceful aliens in five years. After all we do not want an re-creation of countless science-fiction movies in reality."

Looking around, she guessed that nobody really had an idea what to do next, now that the whole thing was over. She also caught Naoko Akagi looking away, when seeing her. Propably guilt, since after all she and Gendo had done the nasty numerous time, and now she felt caught red-handed. Personally, she wanted to just ignore the woman, it was no use to get riled up over it now, especially after making up with Ritsuko. The elder Akagi also avoided Rei, which was no big wonder, considering what she'd done to the girl years ago.

She herself had no idea what to do now. After all, being trapped in an Evangelion core for over 11 years made planning for the future somewhat difficult. However, one thing she knew was, that after all this excitement, she only wanted some peace. A nice, boring life never before had it sounded so promising as it did now.

Shinji walked up to beside his mother, and then looked down to the ruins of what had been Tokyo-3, home to him for almost a year. "You know, we need to move..."

* * *

_...five months later, Tokyo-2..._

Finishing off the last of his miso soup, Shinji looked up and around the breakfast table.

It was hard to believe that five months ago, he'd been fighting for the future of mankind, and now he was back in the normality of a middle-class family life. Or at least, as close as it could get. Right at the moment, his mother was busy with putting away the dishes, while his father was hiding behind the newspaper -Shinji by now had learned that he didn't really read it. Rei was still nowhere in sight, her breakfast still untouched.

So much had changed in these months.

After the battle was over and Tokyo-3 totaled, the question had come up, what to do with the displaced people. In the end it fell to the government and they obviously wanted to make sure that they could keep an eye on everyone involved in NERV. There was no other explanation for why they'd built a completely new neighborhood in Tokyo-2, one where practically everyone who'd worked for NERV was now living, and even a lot of the families whose children were just potential pilots.

Not that he was complaining, it did keep all his friends in one place as well.

On the private side, things had considerably changed as well. The situation between his parents was... interesting, to say the least. Yui had made it pretty clear that Gendo was under probation and she'd be the judge on whether he had truely reformed, or not. This had resulted in some strange by-play like the newspaper-shield in the morning, but right at the moment it seemed like Gendo was on a good way to get back into Yui's good graces, them again sleeping in one room instead of seperate ones was an indicator.

His mother had expressed no desire to again work in anything big-time, wanting to enjoy a peaceful life. So she'd instead become a teacher for physics and mathematics; much to Shinji's disadvantage since she was teaching his class and was nagging him on his grades constantly. Good thing that she'd no classes today.

And his father had been damn lucky that the government hadn't decided to simply lock him away for good. Instead they'd put him into a totally boring job inside the government, where he could do no harm at all. Granted, it came with a good pay and great working hours, but it nonetheless was a fitting way of punishment. The bad news was, that it left Gendo with lots of free time to become creative with his hobbies.

And then there were him and Rei. Things were going good for them. Rei's transformation to a normal teenage girl was practically complete and both of them were finally free to act that way, which was a great relief. And while both of them had their own rooms, his parents had gotten used to them sharing a bed almost half the nights in a month. After all, they'd earned it by saving the world, and his parents wouldn't interfere.

By now Shinji wondered what was taking Rei so long. He remembered her wanting to take a bath before coming to the breakfast table, but she hadn't shown up.

"Shinji, shouldn't you go to school now? Otherwise you'll be in a hurry," his mother reminded him, being done with the dishes.

"Uhm, sure mom." Shinji hoped that Rei would hurry as well. There were a few rules they had, and one was, that Rei did not want to be disturbed, when bathing alone.

Watching their son leave, Yui turned to her husband. "You can put that thing down now. I wonder why you still insist on that ritual, after all you no longer have to fear the stare of frosty death from me."

Putting down the newspaper, Gendo smirked. "Of course, I do. It's no longer for hiding from you, but to confuse our son. I bet he's still trying to figure out why I'm doing this every morning."

Yui liked it that her husband was developing this subtle sense of humor. All her patience had paid off and she did get him back from the shell he'd become over the course of ten years. She really considered allowing him back to her bed as well, since after all she was a woman with needs. That, and she really wanted to give Shinji a sibling, a baby brother or sister. Not that she felt the clock ticking, but she wanted it rather sooner than later.

She then again looked to the empty spot. "I'll check what's taking her so long..."

Watching her leave, Gendo knew he couldn't have found a better wife. He wouldn't have believed it a year ago, but he was indeed much happier now. "Looks like I'm starting to settle down..." He was about to take his coffee cup, when he heard the shriek of a paniced, female teenager.

o

"Urgh... I never liked these things," Ryoji complained while standing in front of the mirror, finally managing to get his tie right.

"Don't complain. That thing is part of the job, and you were not complaining before," Misato told him, while putting on her sunglasses.

Asuka watched the by-play while getting ready to leave for school. While she did so, she felt that it was very interesting how much things had changed in the months since the final victory.

They'd given her the choice to either return to Germany now, or stay in Japan until she'd come of age. That hadn't been a difficult choice, since after practically disowning her father, there was no one left to return to. That had been the moment where Misato had decided to be the responsible guardian and she'd to come to live with her and Ryoji in their new house in Tokyo-2. She'd to admit that it was fun living with them, although right now, Misato was kind of a pain.

No wonder, since right at the moment she was in the fourth month of pregnancy, and her hormones made her more weird than usual. Her pregnancy wasn't that noticable yet, but soon Misato would ask her husband if she'd grown fat, and this was an episode she wasn't looking forward to. The strange things she was eating were bad enough. Asuka had the feeling that Misato thought that having her around was good parental training, ignoring that a teenager was a completely different thing from a newborn.

Right then she heard the doorbell.

"Looks like your sweetheart is here. You have to give him this, he's always punctual," Misato commented, causing Asuka to roll her eyes in annoyance. It got old after the first two weeks. Walking to the door, Asuka had to walk around Pen-Pen. She still had no idea how a penguin could read the newspaper, but maybe that was a question better left unanswered.

Opening the door, she was greeted with the sight of Kaworu's smile. She found it nice that he was walking together with her to school. It was still a little hard to accept that he, who'd been an immortal before, had forgotten so much knowledge in his ressurrection that he'd to go to school again. Not that she was complaining, after all she got more of him this way. After all, Misato and Ryoji had put down their foot and said that while Shinji and Rei might live together, they had no space for another teenager. Asuka secretly suspected that they didn't want to catch them in the act.

"Well, that already brigthens up my morning," she told him with a smile, then saw Shinji walking down the road towards them.

"Well, we are ready to go, as well. Please try to not again get detention. That principal of yours is a sight I have no wish to see again for the near future," Royji cautioned Asuka, while he locked the door.

Pushing down her sunglasses, Misato added "Oh, and don't do any of the things that we would've done." Ignoring Asuka again rolling her eyes, she looked to Shinji. "No Rei today? Is there something I should know?"

Shinji made a point to ignore her teasing. "Hello Misato. Ryoji. Asuka, Kaworu, are you ready to go?"

"Children today have no sense of humor..." Misato grumbled, while watching them leave, before entering the car. "I'm still surprised how you convince me to let you drive."

"It was quite easy when you got sick after some of your own driving. I guess Junior here has something agasinst that..." he told her with a smile, while touching the small bulge in her belly. Thinking about this made him proud all over again.

Misato sighed. Yeah, while she was happy that she was expecting, she could do without some of the side-effects of pregnancy. For some time she'd been as sick as a dog and she'd caught herself eating stuff that made even her eating habits from before meeting Sinji look tame. Asuka had made a point of not being at the dinner table whenever she felt 'creative'.

It was not that they'd drawn the worst jobs. Working for the government wasn't that bad. But as expecting parents, they'd been banned from any kind of field work. Something among the lines that the goverment didn't want to produce even more orphans it had to take care of. One way or another, they were delegated to desk work for years to come, and Misato wondered if maybe it was for the best to settle down permanently.

After all, a quiet life also had its advantages.

o

"Be glad you're no longer living with Misato. Ever since she got pregnant, she's more weird than usual. Her mood swings are sometimes downright scary," Asuka told Shinji, while they walked down the road.

Walking by a garden with a grey-haired man being busy with tending to the plants, they greeted him. "Good morning Mr. Fuyutsuki."

"Good morning, children," he greeted back, before returning his attention to taking care of the flowers. When the government had made him the offer, he'd taken it at once and went into retirement. He'd felt that after all the excitement, it was what he felt the best. It gave him time to finally find his inner center, for his grandchildren and for occassional lectures at the university. Retirement had never felt better.

Looking around, he saw the first signs of Adam's repair of the damage done by Second Impact. The first signs of autum were visible, soon the leaves would change their color and many people would witness their first real autum. Looking up again when thought he'd heard something, he saw a comical sight.

There she was, Rei Ayanami, trying to catch up with the others, trying to call out to them. That was difficult with the slice of toast jammed between her teeth. Fuyutsuki could only smile at that sight. _One fulfilled life from where before had only been emptyness._

Meanwhile Rei had finally managed to catch up with the others and busily wolfed down her toast, swollowing hard to make sure the dry bread would stay down. Looking up and eeing the questioning faces of her friends, she membled something, clearly embarrassed. They still looked at her, so she said more aloud "I fell asleep in the bathtub. That is the reason why I am late."

"Guess one of the side-effects of your cleansing is, that you are no longer punctuality personified," Asuka dryly commented.

Rei didn't want to comment on this, after all the whole thing wasn't the first time she was late. So they walked on, and after some time passed a house where two woman were leaving to make their way to the train station. Recognising Ritsuko and Maya, they gave them a friendly greeting.

"Hello children. How's school going?" Maya asked them.

By now it was common knowledge that she and Ritsuko were living in the same apartment ever since they'd moved to Tokyo-2. Ritsuko's mother hadn't been thrilled, but had kept out of it. And right now, they were both on the way to the university. Ritsuko had taken up teaching and had convinced her to take her sponsorship to strive for a doctorate. Since a Ritsuko had put it, anything else would be a waste of talent (although Ritsuko made sure to get her _other _telents...).

"It is going well. Our grades are good and none of us has been in serious trouble recently," Kaworu told them. He personally found it interesting. Besides being with Asuka, he'd have never thought that such a simple life could be so fulfilling.

"Not recently?" Ritsuko laughed "You deliquents better make sure you fulfill your quota."

Like Maya, Ritsuko had learned that not everyone was tolerant of their relationship, but felt that it wasn't other people's business. It was surprisingly much fun to teach students in her new job at the university and grooming Maya to become her equal was a task that gave her great statisfaction. Yes, life was great.

Walking on, they met two more of their friends at the crossroads.

It was no big surprise to see Kensuke, after all his father had been an employee of NERV and therefore had been moved into the new district. Mayumi on the other hand was a more interesting case. Since she had no relatives left, she'd been in danger of becoming a ward of the state. It was at the same time when everyone had wondered, what to do with Kaworu. Thankfully Kaldor Ikari came forward with a solution. Since he'd proven for years that he was capable of taking care of a minor and had the needed funds, he'd take guardianship of both of them.

Shinji's uncle had been a godsent. So far it had turned out to work remarkably well. The only thing that made them have some doubts about him was the fact, that for several months now, he was dating Naoko Akagi of all people. None of them could imagine what he was seeing in that woman. Kaldor insisted that she is actually very nice, but they hadn't yet found the nerves to actually talk with her.

"Again no Toji?" Shinji asked, already knowing the answer.

"You know him," Kensuke shugged. "Hikari again managed to become class representative, takes her duty serious and thus leaves early. We have to get used to Toji actually leaving early as well. I don't know what he wants to accomplish with it, though."

Mayumi giggled over his cluelessness. "He wants to impress her by helping out... Honestly, I only wait for when he accidently creates a mess. He's not made for that stuff."

Seeing that Toji and Hikari were already at school and that Mana was coming from a different direction and thus only meet them literally at the gates, they went on. Some distance further down the road, they saw two men talking, while one of them opened up his shop.

It was interesting how different way people went after leaving NERV. Shigeru Aoba had opened up a music store, which he right now was opening, while Makoto Hyuga had found work as a system administrator; work that allowed him quite flexible working hours. And it seemed at the moment he'd stopped by to chat with his friend. They then noticed the teenagers walking towards them.

"Hello, kids..." Aoba then turned to Kensuke. "I got the electric guitar you want. Come back this afternoon, and I can give it to you."

"Eh, can I postpone it to the evening?" Kensuke asked and Aoba simply accepted it with a shug. Ever since Kensuke had gotten rid of his hobby of military stuff, he'd found a liking to hard music. Everyone hoped that he'd show as much talent with a guitar as he did with a camera, or their neighbors would be out for his blood.

The final part of their way to school took them through the park. There they stopped to look at the most impressive sight in all of Tokyo-2.

"You have to admit, they found a good use for it instead of just scrapping it," Rei commented.

"Yes, thanks to how well it is build, it will serve as a memory for a long time," Kaworu added.

Sitting before them on a wide stone pedestal was the now empty metal-head of Unit-01, put up as a memorial for the Angel war. Even now as just an empty shell, it still looked intimidating and impressive. Engraved on the pedestal were the words:

**In memory of the war of 2015/16 and the pilots who defended mankind against the menace.**

Actually a good thing their names were mostly secret, as they had no use for that kind of fame that would leave them with no silent moment.

* * *

_...some hours later..._

It had been a boring school day so far, and currently it was between classes and everyone was busy with using the time before the next teacher would arrive. A good number of the people in the class had already been together on the Tokyo-3 middle school, so most knew each other.

For Hikari Horaki, middle school or high school made no difference, the duties of a class representative were still the same. Actually, she had even more to do now, only the fact that this time they hadn't a senile techer in his 70's saved her from getting too much of a burden. Thankfully she no longer had to fight for the survival of mankind, which in return meant that she and Toji had more time for each other. They'd become ...creative by now to keep with her mother's decision until they'd both turn 16 in several months.

That reminded her how both of her sisters became more and more annoying, constantly pestering her about the topic of her boyfriend. Kodama's suggestions had made her blush, while Nozomi had been an annoying little pest. It was nothing of their business, and Hikari wanted it to stay that way!

Looking to where she saw Toji sitting, she saw and heard him talking with their friends, his back to her. She was about to say something, when he said her name. _Let's hear what he is talking about..._

"And I tell you, people. I have absolutely no idea what still to do. Sure Hikari is thankful that I try to help her, but that stuff is so boring, how can she stand it?" Toji whined. His plan to be helpful for Hikari had proven to be more difficult than he'd first thought.

Life had been great for him, especially with a great girlfriend like Hikari and some of the X-rated stuff. But his latest plan had been a complete failure up to now. It was simply that he couldn't have everything. His sister was teasing him constantly about his relationship with his girlfriend and his father was on his case over his grades, saying that he now no longer has to save the world and thus have more time to learn for school. Sometimes life actually was unfair.

"Maybe because she doesn't find it boring?" Asuka interjected sarcastically. She honestly had no idea what the problem was. If he didn't like it, there were other ways to be helpful.

"Smartass... Right now I can only hope she won't look into the supply cabinet," Toji groaned, as if admitting a shameful secret.

Kensuke had a feeling what had happened. "I remember she told you to put the lists of assignments for the next weeks on the black board. The ones she wrote herself. Please don't tell me you lost them!"

"Not exactly... See, I accidently knocked an ink well over them and hid them in the...aaaaahhhhh!" He was unable to continue when suddenly Hikari seized him by the ear, looking unhappy. The others knew that right now Toji had managed to stir the wrath of Mt. Horaki. "Hiiiikaaariii, that huuurts!"

"It's supposed to. Toji, we need a serious discussion. Now!"

The others watched Hikari dragging the poor Toji away and Mana then finally laughed. "I feel a little guilty for laughing over his misfortune, but he really can only blame himself. I bet, had he went to her right away, she'd have forgiven him."

Of all of them, Mana had had the hardest time after the battle, since she'd actually faught and killed real people. She'd taken professional help, paid by the military, and by now she had mostly returned to her old self. With the crisis being over, she also no longer was on permanent call and had time to relax and enjoy life (as much as it was possible with school work). In a strange way she was actually relieved to still being single, saying that a relationship at the moment wouldn't be good for her.

"I wouldn't feel guilty. After all, he brought that over himself," Mayumi added. "I wonder what she'll tell him?"

Mayumi was propably the most drastical change from her days in Tokyo-3. Thanks to having friends that actually cared for her, she'd managed to grow out of her image as a wallflower and became more confident in herself. It also didn't hurt that she'd physically matured a good bit and put her hair into a ponytail. She now really looked like a different girl. Too bad for the few boys who had asked her out; she'd told them that she was already seeing someone, and that she wouldn't do that to him.

Mana then watched Mayumi giving Kensuke a smile, which he returned. "You know, I really have no clue what's going on with you two. The others make no secret of it, but you're still beating around the bush. Can't you two just do a public display of affection?"

Kensuke gave Mayumi an interesting look. "You tell her."

"Weeellll... My dearest Mana, we have actually decided to do non-puplic displays of affection." Seeing Mana's eyes widen, she giggled. "Get your mind out of the gutter. It just means we don't like kissing and stuff when others are watching."

Hearing the others laughing over how her imagination obviously had conjured quite dirty stuff about what she thought Mayumi and Kensuke were doing in their free time, Mana blushed.

* * *

_...in the afternoon..._

Normally they'd hang around with their friends in the afternoon, but today there was little chance for it.

Toji had managed to get detention and Hikari had stayed to make sure that he'd go through with it (and also to make it less of a pain for everyone involved). Asuka and Kaworu had been drafted by Misato to do her laundry, which meant that they'd be busy for the rest of the afternoon. Kensuke had invited Mayumi to the cinema while Mana wanted to enjoy a good book she'd found.

That had left Shinji and Rei with some free time to fill.

It was then, when Shinji had discovered a card he'd gotten almost a year ago. He'd totally forgotten about the martial artist and his wife, who they'd met in Tokyo-2 after visiting Yui's fake grave. There had been so much to do back then that they never had a chance to follow their invitation for trying out their lessons. But now they had more than enough time, and the family dojo also wasn't too far away from their neighborhood.

"Well, that must be it. Looks quite impressive, if you ask me," Shinji commented, while leaning against the railing that seperated the road from a steep slope. He had to concentrate looking to the house, trying not to look at Rei's nice white dress.

Rei had to admit, it did look impressive. "They seem to do well in business."

The first thing they noticed was the wall that seperated the proper from the road, only that instead of being rejecting, the open entrance gate made the whole thing rather inviting. The house behind the walls was equally impressive, showing off that the Saotomes must be rather well off. The dojo building near the wall being the most likely source of their wealth.

Rei then noticed the sign beside the entrance. "_'Saotome-Tendo school of Musabetsu Kakut__ō Ryū__. Challengers please ring the bell at the side entrance.'_ I do not think that we are here to challenge them."

Shinji let out a short laugh. "Yeah, despite having saved the world, we're weaklings compared to real martial artists. They'd mop the floor with us... Well, let's knock at the front door and hope they remember us."

However, they'd just reached the door, when...

"RYU SAOTOME! STOP RUNNING AND TAKE IT LIKE A MAN!"

"No way, mom! Not when you're like this!"

Shinji had no time to react, when the door was yanked open and a teenage boy roughly Shinji's age ran out, looking as if Cthulhu was chasing him. When he noticed the other boy, it already was too late and they collided hard into each other, falling to the ground. Shinji felt his head ringing from the hard impact. It'd felt as if the other boy's head was made of concrete.

Rei looked stunned for a second, before at once trying to pull Shinji out from under the teenager, although this proved more difficult than she'd first anticipated. Thankfully right then the boy was lifted off her boyfriend by a woman she recognised as Akane Saotome. To the other boy's misfortune, she did so by holding on his ears.

"Ooooww, mom! Please! I thought it would be funny!" he wined.

"Save that for your father. You know how sensitive he's about his problem, so putting your sister's undergarments into his drawer was cruel!" Then she finally noticed that they were not alone and let go of him. "Go to your room. I'll deal later with you." The teenager didn't waste a second to make himself scarce.

With surprisingly little efford, she pulled Shinji back to his feet. "I'm so sorry. I hope it didn't hurt too much."

"I've had much worse..." Shinji groaned a little, while holding his head. It was the truth. After things like being nearly boiled like a lobster by an Angel's energy beam, this was nothing at all. "I don't suppose you remember us?"

"Actually, I do. Blue hair is hard to forget."

Rei didn't say anything, but by now it started to annoy her that the first thing everyone remembers her by was her hair color. Yes, it was blue, a color not usually found in the human genetics, but that didn't make it any less annoying. She wanted to come to their reason for being there, when someone else walked out of the front door.

"Hey, Akane! Have you seen..." Ranma then noticed the visitors. "That's a surprise. Guess you did remember us after all and now want to take up on our offer on getting some lessons?"

Now that things were finally back on track, Rei spoke up. "We decided to see if it is something we like. We only need to know first, how much you charge."

Ranma rubbed his smooth chin. "Actually, I won't charge you two at all. You seem to be alright to me and I'll do it in exchange for you telling me your story where you pilot huge mechas." Seeing their shocked reaction, he added. "My eldest son goes to the same school. He of course has heard others from the destroyed Tokyo-3 talk about the pilots, especially a girl with blue hair..."

Shinji sighed. So much for staying anonymus after the end of the war. "Hope you have some time. That's a reeeaaly long story. And by the way, I never knew this pays so well you can afford such a big house."

"Actually, that's our old house from Nerima. We transported it here taken apart after Tokyo was destroyed. But let's get it. I'll make us some tea and then I can't wait to hear your story..." Akane offered them, and they walked into the house.

The sun was shining over Tokyo-2 in early autum.

The world was still healing from the scars of the past. Mankind had gotten a second chance, being freed from its creator and almost-executioner. What now was lying ahead, could only be pure speculation. The future, a new, undiscovered country.

A future without Angels or Evangelions, but with hope.

**The End**

Note that I do have some ideas for a sequel. Basically it would involve Shinji and Rei somehow getting sucked into the Rebuild universe (propably Ritsuko's fault...) and really mess around with that universe's status quo and their counterparts. However, as I said, it's only an idea and I'm open for suggestions.


End file.
